Talents
by KodiakWolfe13
Summary: A bunch of one-shots centering around Danny in different universe with different superpowers. (Many, many AUs in store.)(Cross-posted on Wattpad.)
1. Hypnotic Voice

**Disclaimer: Don't own Danny Phantom or any of the other cartoons that shall appear in this fiction. To be honest, I wanna know the guy that got sued for lying about his lack of ownership that made the rest have to write these disclaimers. Seriously, it's called "Fan-Fiction!" WHY WOULD THE ORIGINAL AUTHORS BE ON HERE?**

 **This chapter is a Danny Phantom/Young Justice x-over.**

* * *

Ch.1: Hypnotic Voice

Danny pressed his ear to his bedroom door and listened to the signs of his parents walking up the stairs, passing his room, and entering the room just down the hall. He waited patiently for their door to close; sounds of them rummaging around in their personal space still echoed through. However, tonight was a particularly restless night for him and Danny cracked the door open.

His pupils immediately shrunk in size a little as the light coming from the cracks around his parent's door caught his blue eyes. Through the crack, he watched the shadows in the small amount of light as his parents roamed around their room, getting ready for bed. Danny didn't know how long he stood there, just watching the shadows, before all the lights turned off and let the hallway fall into darkness, making the still air feel eerie.

The black-haired teen flipped the hood of his black jacket up before opening his door. Danny silently stepped into the hallway, pulling the door close behind him. There was an almost inaudible _click_ as it locked in place and the fourteen-year-old quietly began tip-toeing down the hall. He avoided the floorboards he knew creaked and winced every time something shifted under his feet. However, the sounds that were like thunderclaps to his ears didn't make it to his parents' room.

Danny slipped by his sister's room and craftily edged down the steps. It took much longer to travel down the steps than it did journeying down the hallway but he was also quieter. The teen didn't let his timing get to him though. Once he got out of the house, he'd be snappy about his mission and get back home in time to sleep peacefully for a few hours before school.

As his feet landed on the main level of the home, Danny paid less attention to his steps as he scurried to the front door, unlocked it, grabbed the keys from the table sitting beside the exit, and slipped out. Closing the door quietly behind him, Danny re-locked the house behind him and slipped his keys in his pocket.

Outside the house, the street was quiet and abandoned. All the homes up and down the street were dark and silent, except the occasional one that housed a night-owl. Even then, one could only see the lights from the TVs through the closed curtains. Lining the road, street-lights lit the street up for anyone who decided to drive or walk around at this time of night.

Sitting in front of Danny's house was a black Suburban, silent and idle with blacked-out windows.

Without thinking twice, Danny hopped down the couple of steps leading to his front door. He waltzed to the car, opened the passenger door, and got in, shutting the door behind him and sending a shock through the quiet air outside. Danny slipped his seat-belt on and leaned back, tapping his fingernails against the door beside him as he ignored the smell of smoke tickling at his nostrils.

"Well, look who's early tonight. It's only 10:30."

Danny rolled his eyes at the familiar voice, looking to his side to gaze at the toned figure next to him. "I got lucky. My parents went to bed early. Now don't make us late and begin driving already."

The man in the driver's seat rolled his eyes and scowled at the snappy command of the much younger teenager. However, he did as he was told and started the car. The floodlights flooded the road in front of them with light and he pulled from his spot on the curb, driving down his lane and coming to the stop-sign at the end of the road, stalling him from pulling into the street that slithered throughout the entire neighborhood.

Danny, for the billionth time, looked his 'escort' up and down with dull, blue eyes. He recognized the familiar bright green mohawk of the adult, as well as the piercings sticking out from his lip, ears, and nose. The leather jacket looked new, though. It was probably to replace the one he had before, which had been super old and had tears and holes throughout the fabric. A choker held onto the man's throat tightly, a skull pendant hanging from it.

The man, for as long as Danny had known him, had always been called Skulker. No real first name; no last name. There was no other information Danny had been given for him to look up the man. He'd tried prying one time but that had ended with failure and a bruise on his cheek; something he did not have fun explaining to his parents the next day.

The teen guessed it was alright with him, though. After all, Skulker only knew him as Sandman.

The drive was silent until Danny slipped his iPod out of his pocket and stuffed his headphones into his ears. Danny pressed the home button and squinted when the screen lit up, shining light in his face and eyes. The teen turned the brightness down before opening his music, pressing the first song that he thought would be remotely good. He locked his phone again before staring out the window, watching as they passed dark shapes and figures. There was the occasional street-lamp that reflected off the blacked-out windows.

The drive was roughly twenty minutes and Skulker stopped the car in front of a large, run-down office building with three levels. It was sitting in the middle of a sketchy neighborhood and most of the buildings were dark and quiet. Even the office building they had approached seemed to be untouched by any conscious person.

"I'll be back." Danny stated as he turned off his music, wrapping his ear-buds around his iPod. He opened the door to the car and slipped out.

As he was shutting the door, Skulker said, "I'll be waiting."

Danny nodded at the window, even though he couldn't see Skulker behind it. He turned on his heel and walked towards the building, fixing his hood better around his head to keep it shadowed and unseen. The blue-eyed teen opened the door as he reached it, slipping inside and letting it fall gently closed behind him. The teen's footsteps echoed around him as he sauntered down the hall. He weaved through the building's lobby area and a few more hallways before coming to a door in the back of the building. Danny stopped in front of it and knocked on the door.

A muffled "Come in," sounded from the other side. Danny grabbed the doorknob, twisted, opened the door, and entered silently. He shut the door behind him, though there really was no need to. He and the man in the room were the only ones in the building; possibly the only ones on the block.

The room Danny entered was much nicer than the rest of the building with full furnishings and up-to-code safety precautions. Since it was dark, one couldn't tell if it was clean or not but Danny had a feeling it was. He didn't understand why anyone would bother though. All meetings took place during the night in almost complete pitch-black. The teen didn't question the boss-man about it though.

The 'boss-man' was sitting at his desk, playing with something in his hands. Danny wasn't sure what it was; it was too dark to make out the shape. Really, the only thing he could tell about the other male was that he had silver hair, which reflected off the light from the street-lamps outside that slipped through the shades.

Danny didn't care he didn't know what the other looked like. The other had what Danny wanted and gave it to him when he got things right.

"Who's the target, Plasmius?" Danny asked, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jacket. He stood at an angle with more weight falling to one leg more than the other. The teen let his shoulders droop, his dark figure looking much more relaxed than it should be.

The man behind the desk, Plasmius, pulled open one of his desk drawers, rummaged around with the contents inside, and pulled something out. While shutting the drawer, the man laid something on the front of his desk, silently inviting the younger to take whatever he had laid down. As Danny paced forward, Plasmius stated, "Just grab the woman, take her to the drop-off point, set her up the way the client desires, and leave. When you get back, you'll get your payment."

"Understood." Danny responded, picking up the envelope sitting quietly on the desk. He slipped it into his pocket, turned around, and exited without another word, leaving the man to sit in the darkness alone. The teen weaved through the hallways expertly, fingering the envelope he had in his pocket. Danny resisted looking at it, though.

Exiting the building, Danny walked to the car, opened the door, and hopped in. Once safely inside, he took the envelope out of his pocket and opened it. He slipped the index card out of the sleeve and used his phone as a light-source to read what was scrawled across the stiff paper, making him squint at the light again.

"What's it say?" Skulker asked.

Once having read it, Danny slipped the index card back into the envelope and put it back in his pocket. Leaning back in his seat, the teen began looking through his songs again as he unwrapped his ear-buds, putting them into his ears. "You know that psychiatric office downtown?"

Danny pressed play at the end of his question, knowing Skulker wouldn't need to ask if that's where they were going. The two fell into silence again, an easy air between the two.

Looking out the window, Danny felt his eyes becoming heavy and debated closing his eyes. He finally allowed his eyelids to drift close, blocking his sight and allowing himself to be surrounded by darkness. However, it didn't take long for his eyes to reopen again while he sighed quietly to himself at the unfairness of the world.

It was a fifteen minute ride and Skulker dropped the teen off a few blocks from the psychiatric office, leaving Danny to walk the rest of the way. The teen was told where he would be picked up by Skulker before the Suburban pulled away and Danny began walking down the sidewalk, passing the small but loud crowds of people that were most-likely bar-hopping.

Two blocks from the office, Danny ducked into an alley and pulled out the envelope holding the information. He took out the index card and re-read what was written across its surface. Once everything was perfectly implanted in his brain, Danny slipped a cigarette lighter from his pocket (something he had 'borrowed' from Skulker) and flipped the notch. As the flame flickered in the darkness, Danny held the envelope and index card over the small flame, waiting for the fire to find a hold on the kindling.

After a few seconds of waiting, the flame caught and Danny released his hold on the lighter. He slipped it back into his pocket and exited the alley, dropping the burning papers into a trash-can as he passed. He hurried along at a reasonable pace, ignoring what could easily be a huge fire.

Maybe he would see something on the news about it tomorrow.

The rest of Danny's walk was uneventful and dull. As he came upon the psychiatric office, the raven-haired teen ducked his head and fixed his hood around his face better. He entered the building cautiously and noticed the security guard that immediately raised his head to look at him suspiciously. Feigning nervousness, Danny scurried over to the board that listed all the doctors in the building and barely raised his head to scan the block letters. For added effect, he rubbed his arm anxiously and clenched and unclenched his hand.

As he looked through it, he found the target listed: _Dr. Penelope Spectra. Level 3; Room 305._

Danny hurried over to the security guard, gave the fake name Plasmius had given him, and kept his eyes rooted to the floor. The guard wrote all the info down before allowing Danny to continue his journey into the building. The blue-eyed teen continued his anxious façade for the cameras, shuffling his feet and keeping his head ducked.

After riding the elevator to the third floor, Danny padded to room 305 and knocked on the door lightly. Miraculously, it was heard on the other side and the teen was called in. The blue-eyed boy slipped inside, shutting the door behind him quietly and turning around, raising his eyes to look at the red-headed target grinning sickly sweet at him from her desk. Danny recognized her immediately but didn't remember where he had seen her.

"Hi! You must be Luke. It's so nice to meet you."

Danny nodded his acknowledgement, replying, "Hi."

The red-headed woman, Dr. Spectra, smiled at him and gestured for the teen to sit in the seat in front of her desk. She sat up straight, clasping her hands and setting them down in front of her. "Well, come sit down and we'll get started. The faster we get this done, the faster you can go home and get some sleep."

"If I get any at all…" Danny mumbled, mentally rolling his eyes as he shuffled to the seat offered. He sat down in it stiffly, clasping his hands in his lap and keeping his eyes downcast.

Dr. Spectra raised an eye at the younger boy and barely tilted her head to the side. "You have sleep problems?"

Danny nodded, playing with his fingers while he watched them. "Yeah. I stress over things a lot. It keeps me up at night."

The red-head hummed to herself before looking down for a moment while she scribbled something down on a clipboard. Dr. Spectra leaned back in her seat casually and set the board in her lap, obviously trying her hardest to ease her patient's anxiety. "I see. I'm surprised but I guess it should've been expected. Why didn't you tell your father about your insomnia?"

"Does my father need to know everything?" Danny responded, keeping his stiff posture and his eyes drawn to his fingers. He distantly wondered why Plasmius had to be his 'father.' Why not stepfather or something else along those lines?

Dr. Spectra raised an eyebrow at the teen but let the reply slide. She opened her mouth to ask another question but Danny raised his eyes, cutting her off. "Do I have to come and go through the front entrance? Can I take a back entrance next time?"

"There is a back entrance but it's for staff members only. I'm sorry." Dr. Spectra stated, frowning at Danny.

The teen shrugged but kept the eye-contact with the doctor. His fingers stopped moving and became still. His posture slowly relaxed and the red-head watched him curiously. Danny said, "That's ok, I guess. I just have one more question for you before we continue."

"What would that be?"

"Aren't you tired? Don't you wanna sleep?"

Dr. Spectra opened her mouth to respond but the only thing that exited her mouth was a yawn. Her form became completely limp as her eyes rolled back in her head and her eyelids closed. The clipboard slipped from her hands and clattered to the floor, the paper swooshing as it fell. The doctor stilled in her seat and breathed deeply as she slept.

"That was easy." Danny commented before standing up. He walked around the desk, stood by the woman's chair, and looked her over. A creep of envy stirred in his body at her peaceful form before he commanded, "Up."

The woman, eyes still closed and her head dangling limply on her shoulders, stood up from her chair obediently. Danny gestured to the seat he had taken and watched as she walked, zombie-like, to the seat before plopping down. The teen bent over, picked up the clipboard, and dropped it on her desk before falling into her seat and opening the internet to play around for however long he needed to.

Danny browsed the internet from eleven-forty-five until twelve-thirty, checking the time every few minutes. When the end of his 'session' began coming around, Danny cleared the history on the computer before closing his programs down. After, he looked towards the sleeping doctor and said, "I'm going to give you instructions now. Are you listening?"

Dr. Spectra bobbed her head unsteadily.

"Good. I'm going to leave in a few minutes. When I do, you're going to get your stuff and walk out the back exit like you're going home for the night. You're going to walk to the Dollar Tree two blocks down. If I'm not there when you are, you stay there until I come. Do you understand?" Danny asked.

The red-haired woman's head bobbed up and down again.

Danny stood up and walked around the desk. He stopped in front of Dr. Spectra's chair and leaned against the desk. Tilting her head up at him, the teen tilted his head to the side and hummed. "Open your eyes."

The doctor opened her green eyes.

"Blink occasionally."

Obediently, Dr. Spectra's eyes blinked at him. There was a few seconds of nothing before she blinked again.

"Smile a little."

The woman's lips twitched upwards, making her look tired but pleasant.

Danny nodded at his work, stating, "Keep that look on your face. It's time to leave. Get up and follow out your orders."

The woman stood and began trudging around the room, gathering her things as she had been told. Danny watched her, frowning at the way she dragged her feet unnaturally. Dr. Spectra looked like a smiling zombie as she turned towards the door. The teen shook his head at the unusual sight before snapping at her, "Walk naturally."

Dr. Spectra's movements evened out and she opened the door. The woman exited her office with Danny following behind. The red-head sauntered to the elevator while the teen ducked his head again; staring at the floor while he shuffled along beside her, pretending to be the anxious teenager he was supposed to be.

The two rode in silence to the main level, where they split up. Danny gave a tiny wave to the security guard as he passed and exited the building. He kept his façade up as he walked the two blocks to the Dollar Tree, where the doctor was just stopping to wait. As he passed her, Danny gestured for the woman to follow and whispered, "Come on."

The doctor joined his side and the two casually walked down the sidewalk, avoiding the occasional bar-hoppers and others roaming the street this late at night.

Skulker was waiting for them at the end of the block, unhappily sulking in his seat when Danny opened one of the back-doors so Dr. Spectra could climb inside as she was told to. The woman climbed inside, buckling herself in obediently while Danny shut the door and opened his, hopping into his seat.

"Give me my lighter." Skulker demanded.

Danny pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to the older male, smirking at the adult cutely. Skulker glared at the younger before starting the car and asking, "Where we headed to now?"

"We're dropping her off at the docks, warehouse two. It's just down the road." Danny responded, leaning back in his seat and keeping his smirk in victory on his face. He glanced at the older male out of the corner of his eye and saw he was probably going to be snappish for the rest of the night.

When they reached the docks and after the teen put a mask on, Danny and Dr. Spectra were dropped off at the entrance and the two walked to the nearby warehouse. The two entered through the open, front door and Danny led the woman to the center of the large structure, making her sit down in the chair provided. Once he had done that, a twenty-something-year-old woman appeared from behind a stack of crates and cautiously walked over, holding a knife. "Are you Sandman?"

"Yeah. How do you want me to leave Spectra?" Danny asked, hands on his puppet's shoulders.

The woman walked over, revealing how much or a wreck she was. Her dark brown hair was in a messy ponytail, strands falling in her face and sticking high into the air. Her makeup was put on half-heartedly and was running down her face with hot, angry tears. Her shirt and jacket were too big for her, falling off her shoulders. Her jeans were ripped. One of her converses was untied. "I don't want her to move but I want her to be aware of what's going on."

Danny leaned down and looked over the doctor's shoulder. "Hear that, Spectra? I'm going to snap my fingers and you're going to wake up. However, you'll think it's all a dream where you can't control your body and can't move. You can't escape whatever's coming to you. Understood?"

The woman's head bobbed up and down.

The teen raised his hand and snapped his fingers in front of Dr. Spectra's face. Her body swayed back and forth unsteadily and her open eyes, which had been glazed over before, slowly came into focus on the scenery around her. She tried to say something but no words came out of her mouth.

Danny walked out from behind her, saying, "The trance only lasts a couple of hours when I'm not around. You can have your fun but don't make it last too long."

The unnamed woman nodded at him and the teen left the warehouse, walking back to the car casually.

The blue-eyed teen hadn't expected to accidently stumble upon a group of teenagers to stumble upon him, wearing ridiculous outfits and wielding all sorts of weapons and their fists. Danny knew who they were upon looking each over, since all of them had a way of making it into the news quite often. It was obvious the group was searching for something and stumbled upon Danny on accident. He wasn't too worried about them though: his powers and mask would take care of everything.

His mask wasn't anything special, of course. It was just a plain, simple thing colored grey.

In other, simpler words, it was forgettable.

The obvious leader of the group of teens, a teen with dark-skin and short, light colored hair, stepped forward with two, glowing blue blades in his hands. Aqualad's expression was suspicious of the character walking through the docks late at night with a mask covering his mask and was also neutral at the same time. "Who are you?"

"Apparently, not the person you're looking for. So, if you don't mind, I'm just gonna leave and go home. I have things to do tomorrow." Danny answered, trying to slip further into the darkness of his hood. He wanted the ability to disappear but he had a feeling that went to someone else under Plasmius' careful rule.

"Ha!" Batman's sidekick, Robin, laughed, smile wide and, through his mask, eyes shining in amusement. "You think you're going anywhere? You're more suspicious than Harlequin walking her hyenas around Gotham and that's saying something!"

Danny raised an eyebrow at the jab and tilted his head to the side. "Uh-huh sure... Just so you know, I will be leaving and I'm going to go home and get some well-deserved sleep. You all may try and stop me but I will make this fight is short and sweet."

"Oh yeah, and how do you plan on doing that?" Kid Flash questioned. His smile mirrored that of Robin's, mischievous and taunting.

Miss Martian suddenly looked pale. "Guys, we need to-"

"Sleep."

Everyone, unceremoniously, collapsed to the ground in a heap while their eyes rolled back in their heads. Danny stared at their slumbering forms for a moment, feeling a creep of envy curling in the pit of his stomach before he roughly pushed it aside. He walked a little closer to their prone forms and, noticing the green-skinned girl was already stirring, commanded, "Sleep. Sleep until someone else finds you. Until then, dream about fighting and saving people. After all, isn't that what you do best?"

Everyone stilled and dreamed.

Danny nodded to himself before stepping over their bodies and walking away without a second though and without looking back.

When Black Canary and Batman found them a little while later, they were _not_ happy and the teens were all confused.

* * *

Danny stared out the window, bored, as he waited for Skulker to pull off the highway and stop at Plasmius' office. He was impatient for payment and sleep. The teen looked at the time every few minutes, watching as the time drifted into the one o'clock region and continued to tick away. Danny growled in irritation occasionally, making Skulker look at him weirdly.

When they finally got to the office building, Danny took little time to hop out of the car and stalk into the building. He weaved in and out of the hallways and didn't knock on the office door when he got to Plasmius' office. He just barged right on in, saying, "The mission's over. I want my pay now."

Plasmius shrugged in his seat, gesturing to something on the desk. Danny paced forward, swiping the clear pill bottle off the surface and shaking it in his hand. The sounds of two pills jingled inside loudly, making all of Danny's nervousness and irritable mood fade away as he carefully tucked the bottle inside his jacket pocket. "Thanks."

Danny watched Plasmius' head nod in his direction. "Until next time, Sandman."

The ebony-haired boy walked carefully back to the door and stalled for a moment when Plasmius said, "And next time…"

"Yes?"

" _Knock._ "

The teen gulped at the sharp edge in the boss-man's voice and nodded his head. He opened the door and slid out, saying over his shoulder, "Sure."

Danny retraced his steps and breathed only when he was in the car again. Skulker needed no cue to pull away from the curb and begin heading in the direction of the teen's home. The two were silent again and Danny rested easily in his seat, fingering the bottle in his pocket with care as he felt the rigid edges of the cap. It was soothing to his restful spirit.

Halfway to the house, Skulker asked, "What does he pay you with?"

The teen looked to the strange-looking adult and hummed in question. The green-haired man glanced at Danny, taking his eyes off the road for a split second, before refocusing on his task again. "I asked what Plasmius pays you with. Ninety percent of the time he pays people with something other than money. What does he give you?"

Danny shifted nervously in his seat, tightening his hold around the bottle in his pocket. "It's… A certain type of drug."

"You're a junkie?"

"I'm not an addict!" Danny snapped back defensively. He squared his shoulders and frowned at the road in front of him. "Look… Five years ago, I got the ability to put people to sleep with a simple command. In a terrible twist of irony, I developed insomnia from it. My parents tried getting doctors to help us but there was nothing physically, emotionally, or mentally wrong. We tried all sorts of medication but nothing worked. For four years, I hardly ever got any restful sleep.

"Then, a year ago, Plasmius came along. He sent me an email, explaining he could help me with my problem if I help him out with his agency. He said he had some medication that would help me fall asleep. After testing it and awaking refreshed, I was on-board, as long as I got to sleep."

"Do they have any side-effects?"

"Yeah. I sleep worse than before the next few nights unless I take another pill."

Skulker glanced at Danny but said nothing more.

They came to Danny's house a few minutes later and the teen got out of the car wordlessly. He took his keys from his pocket when he walked up the front steps and unlocked the door. The boy turned the knob and silently opened it, slipping inside and locking it behind him. Danny put the keys back in their spot before tip-toeing to the stairs, climbing the steps, and edging his way to his door, past his sister's room. The teen finally made it to his door, opening it and ducking inside, shutting it behind him.

Danny immediately went to his bathroom and flipped the lights on, taking the pill bottle from his pocket. The teen popped the cap off, let the two white capsules fall into his hand, and stared at them wistfully. He remembered a time when he only had to take one to get a good night's rest before his body adjusted to it and began suppressing its effects. He wondered if he'd become immune to this amount in the future and they'd have to up the dosage again.

Looking into the mirror, Danny glared at the dark crescent moons under his eyes, turned on the sink, and bent down to take a sip from the running water. As some of the water entered his mouth, he could vaguely hear one of the characters from his favorite TV show saying, " _I drank straight from the tap, like an animal!"_ and smiled.

Standing up, Danny popped the pills in his mouth, threw his head back, and swallowed painfully. Taking a deep breath, Danny let his head fall back to look in the mirror. After staring for a few moments, he smiled, turned the lights out, and walked through the darkness to his bed. He fell onto the mattress and crawled under the blankets, lying on his side and staring at the clock.

The teen felt his eyes droop as he watched the time tick by slowly. Within minutes, Danny's blue eyes closed and he fell into a dreamless, restful sleep that he craved every night but hardly ever got.

* * *

Smiling, Danny slipped up beside his two friends and cheerily said, "Hello~!"

The girl, a goth with short black hair and violet eyes, looked to her side and grinned at the beaming smile Danny was wearing. Sam put her hands on her hips, saying, "Well, someone's chipper this morning."

"I got a good night's rest. Sue me." Danny responded, leaning against the girl casually with his elbow on her shoulder.

The blue-eyed teen's other friend, a boy with dark skin, turquoise eyes, and wearing a beret hat, gave his friend a happy laugh as he looked up from his beloved PDA. Tucker shook his head before asking, "Did you hear what happened last night at the docks?"

"No. What?" Danny asked, feigning ignorance and perking to attention immediately at the prospect of something interesting to talk about, like any other teenager in the world.

"Remember the school counselor that lasted, like, a month way back in the beginning of the year? Her name was Dr. Spectra and she had really bright red hair that we all agreed was coloring." Sam asked, making Danny nod his head. No wonder he had recognized the woman.

"Yeah. I remember her. She was creepy."

"Oh yeah. She was terrifying." Tucker agreed, nodding his head. "Anyways, apparently she was kidnapped last night and held hostage for forty-five minutes before a bunch of the Justice League's sidekicks accidently stumbled upon Spectra and the lady holding her hostage while they tried to find some high-class villain or something like that. Apparently, Spectra was brutally tortured during that time and now seems to be experiencing some weird trauma, swearing everything that happened was just a dream, despite her injuries."

"That's terrible." Danny said, face morphing into an expression of disgust.

"Oh, you haven't even heard the best part." Sam continued sarcastically, shaking her head as she looked to Tucker. She silently gestured for him to continue the story.

Tucker complied. "The 'best' part is that Spectra is going to jail too. Apparently, she's a psychopath that gets off on people's emotional destruction. None of the patients she's ever seen have never gotten better and usually resort to…extreme measures to take care of their problems. The only reason she was still in business was because of all the fake reviews she got. The crazy nut that took the woman hostage was one of the victims of Spectra's abuse."

"Well… I guess Spectra got what she deserved." Danny commented, shrugging his shoulders and frowning uneasily. His two friends nodded before they turned to where the bus was coming.

No one noticed Danny sigh to himself before forcing a smile.

* * *

Batman glared unhappily at the teenagers while Black Canary looked them over neutrally, arms crossed over her chest and a frown playing on her lips. Both adults were deep in thought and didn't seem to be _completely_ mad at the teens themselves, if they were anything more than irritated. No, they were angrier with the situation that had manifested.

"So... This teenager just told you to sleep and you did?" Black Canary asked for the umpteenth time. The teens failed to say anything about her repeated question and simply nodded again silently. After all, no one wanted to upset an already thoroughly aggravated Black Canary any further.

"Mental manipulation or mind control?" Batman asked, turning to the blonde fighter to his side. It was the first time he had spoken for a long time.

Black Canary hummed in contemplation before shaking her head. "They're unlikely. After all, they said there was no invasion in their minds before they were all put to sleep. The boy simply spoke and they heeded. Is that correct, Team?"

The Team nodded again, not sure what else to say. They had gone over the entire encounter thoroughly, even going into the dreams they had had afterwards. While the dreams could have easily been a manifestation of their own imaginations, they didn't feel right leaving it out when it could easily have been the doing of the teen they had stumbled across.

"Megan, did you get anything off the boy when you entered his mind?" Black Canary asked, all eyes turning to the Martian, who shook her head sadly.

"No. There wasn't enough time. All I saw was his plan to knock us out quickly. I'm sorry." Megan said, frowning. She looked up when Connor put a hand on her shoulder and smiled, though it was small.

Batman and Black Canary looked at each other, contemplating things. The room was enveloped in silence again while the two older heroes tried to think of something they could do. The teens stayed rooted to their spots, watching the two adults and waiting patiently for instructions. No one dared to say anything.

Finally, Batman turned to the group and said, "We're going to find him."

* * *

Danny paced the length of his dark room, nervously brushing his hands through his hair and wringing them out afterwards as he thought over his options. He was all dressed up in his Sandman attire with his mask hanging around his throat and under his shirt. Thoughts raced through his mind, whizzing to him and running away all at the same time.

The teen pressed himself against the wall and shut his racing mind down for a moment. After a few seconds of complete stillness, he allowed everything to turn on again and calmed his thinking speed down to something that was manageable. Danny took a deep breath and began going over his plan. He released his breath as he accepted it as something he had to do.

It had been three weeks since the last mission Plasmius had sent him on. Danny had long since gotten over it but now his thoughts were on why his 'boss' hadn't sent him on any more. It wasn't unusual to have a break period but one this long hadn't happened in a long, _long_ time. The teen had gotten used to having a good night's sleep a few times a month. He'd only had one this month and he was dying to have another.

The boy's thoughts wandered back to his chat with Skulker and he smiled hollowly, remembering how he had snapped at the older when he had told him what Plasmius paid Danny with.

 _"I'm not an addict!"_

Danny was only now realizing how much of a lie that had been as he paced the room and pleaded with himself to just _go to sleep_.

The teen snapped to attention as he heard his parents walking up the steps to go to bed. Danny tiptoed over and pressed his ear to the door, waiting for them to pass, slip into their room silently, and close their door. Once the tell-tale _click_ sounded, the teen opened his door and peeked out. Seeing the door closed, Danny slipped out and whisked himself down the hall. He hadn't waited for his parents to crawl into bed, he hadn't shut his door, and he didn't bother to watch his step as he rushed down the hall, down the steps, and out the front door.

Unlike all the other nights he had snuck out, there was no car outside waiting for the boy. There was no mission, even though he felt like he was on one anyways.

Zipping up his jacket, Danny began jogging down the street that would lead out of the neighborhood. When he came to the main drag, he turned down the direction that would lead him to the all-too-familiar sketchy neighborhood and broke out into a sprint. He panted and his muscles ached as he rushed along but a sense of urgency had overtaken him. The cars that passed him held tired drivers that would only realize how strange it was to see a teenager out running in the dead of night later on.

Danny wasn't sure how long he ran, stopping every once in awhile but never staying still for long. It probably took longer than he realized but Danny didn't care because he, eventually, did make it to the building. He wasted no time rushing inside, weaving through the halls, and coming to the door in the back of the building. The teen almost barged in before the words _"And next time... Knock."_ surfaced.

Then he realized how far he had come for something so stupid.

The teen almost bashed his head into the wall. Danny hadn't thought he'd ever be so desperate and, staring at his shaky, sweating hands, he was beginning to understand how deeply he had sunk under Plasmius' control. He'd done a lot of things he shouldn't have and had become dependant on a drug, which only Plasmius could supply, which made him dependant on Plasmius. That made sure he did every horrible thing Plasmius to fuel his equally as horrible addiction.

"What have I done?" Danny asked himself quietly as he rubbed his face. Sighing, he raised his fist and knocked on the door. He waited patiently for permission to enter but he was never called in.

Cautiously, Danny opened the door and peeked in. His eyes widened when he realized no one was inside. After looking in all directions, Danny slipped in and walked over to the desk. He looked through the drawers, looking for the object of his muse. Danny didn't actually think he'd find the drug but it was worth a shot anyways, right?

Much to his surprise, he did find a small pill bottle in one of the drawers and heard someone _click-click-click_ inside it. He popped the cap off and, with widened eyes, saw that there was a single pill in the bottom of the container. He spilled the capsule into his hand, popped the cap back on the bottle before dropping it into the drawer and shutting it. Getting up, Danny released the pill into his pocket and scurried to the door, slipping out of it quickly.

His feet were light as he left the building and began sprinting down the sidewalk. Danny panted as he tried putting some distance between the HQ and himself. He was scared to think of what would happen if Plasmius caught him now, stealing from him and running. The ebony-haired teen knew he would immediately start lying to the older man too, which just added to his list of offenses.

Danny stopped running a few blocks from the deserted building and stumbled into an alleyway. He was already out of breath but he wasn't too surprised. He'd run who-knows-how-long and who-knows-how-far only a little while before, barely stopping during his trek to take a rest. It was amazing he hadn't collapsed yet.

Pushing his back against the brick wall behind him, Danny slowly slid down the surface until he landed on the ground. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the pill, holding it reverently in his hands as he stared at it with contemplative blue eyes. A sigh escaped his lips as he rested his head against the wall behind him, finding a small slit in the rooftops above him, allowing him to catch glimpses of the night sky above him. The teen's palm closed around the capsule protectively.

Danny stared at the stars, counting them as he wondered what to do with the single pill in his hands. The dosage had long since become null to his body. There had to be another tablet to go with the first one for any instant effects to take place. Right now, that's all he wanted: for the world to fade away to instant black and leave him be for the time being.

As the blue-eyed boy lost count of the stars and started over again, he pondered just when he had become addicted and wished to restart. He'd never meant to take it this far.

When he lost count again, Danny sighed and closed his heavy eyelids over his crystalline orbs. His hand stayed clutched around the pellet in his hand as he drifted off to sleep, sitting in the dirty alley with his head lifted to the sky above him. His muscles relaxed and his breaths evened out and deepened. He became oblivious to the world.

The teen stayed like that for an hour or two before the dark horizon became edged with a low light, making the deep black become a midnight blue. The stars began fading from sight as the sun began breaching the horizon, getting a little closer with every minute that passed. The midnight blue painting the sky became a little lighter with each second.

Danny awoke as the sky turned into a deep violet specked with the few stars strong enough to continue shining. His eyes scanned his surroundings curiously as he took a deep breath, fist tightening around the capsule in his hand unconsciously. A deep ache had settled in the muscles in his legs. The teen picked himself off the ground, rubbing his face and trying to regain a sense of time. His location escaped him for a moment before everything came back to him in a flood. Eyes widening at his newfound time and place, Danny mumbled, "Aw shit…"

"It only gets worse from here."

The boy's head whipped up and he could feel all the color drain from his face when his eyes landed on the Boy Wonder crouching in front of his mentor on a fire-escape. Robin was wearing a humorous smirk while Batman's expression was set into a permanent scowl, as usual. They were just casually hanging out and Danny had to wonder how they had been there.

Just to make matters worse, Danny knew he was wearing the same outfit he wore the night he had run into Robin and the other teens. The teen's grey mask was peeking out of his collar as well, scratching at the skin that lay under his shirt. His fist was still clenched around the tablet and his eyes still felt heavy.

Danny could already tell it was going to be a _really_ bad day for him.

"Sleep." The teen said, waiting for the two heroes to drop like logs so he could buy himself some time and hatch together a quick plan to get away. However, much to his shock, Robin only smirked wider in amusement while Batman's scowl only deepened. Danny desperately wondered how they were suddenly immune to his suggestive powers.

Robin reached up to his ear and tapped something inside. "Ear plugs~."

It was then Danny realized that, both times the Boy Wonder had spoken, he had talked at a volume louder than he needed to in an attempt to hear what he was saying. And considering all the skills the duo already possessed, it wasn't a too far-fetched idea that they could both read lips. It was the perfect combination to block Danny's suggestive powers and still be able to keep up with a conversation.

"Ah crap…" Danny mumbled to himself, backing away a few steps. He noticed the way Robin looked over his shoulder, gazing at his mentor with an amused smirk settled on his face. The ebony-haired took this small opportunity to turn tail and _run_ , ignoring how his muscles protested bitterly against such an action. He weaved his way in and out of the back-alleys, easily getting lost in the labyrinth-like passageways.

The boy didn't make it very far before he was tripped by a yellow and red blur. Danny's hand released the tablet, which bounced a few feet away but the teen didn't make a grab for it. Instead, he lifted his head and shot a glare at Kid Flash as he grinned and the Dynamic Duo landed a dozen yards away, not at all impressed with Danny's show. Robin even laughed.

Knowing he was caught and there was no way he could escape, the blue-eyed teen stayed on the ground but sat up, sitting on his legs as he brought them under him. It wasn't very long before the rest of the group Danny had put to sleep weeks before surrounded him, along with a blonde dressed in black clothing, who Danny knew was named Black Canary from the news.

Danny watched as they surrounded him on all sides, passing looks back and forth while he waited for them to start questioning him. However, they never said anything, which confused Danny to no end. He looked back and forth between the heroes in front of him as they continued to exchange looks. When nothing continued to happen, his blue eyes drifted down and began staring at the white capsule lying in-between Robin's and Batman's feet.

The captured teen blinked curiously as Batman suddenly crouched and blanched when the Dark Knight picked up the tiny capsule, giving him a questioning look. Danny smiled nervously and chuckled through his clenched teeth, feeling his break out in sweat nervously. Batman's frown only deepened and he gestured to one of the girls standing behind Danny. The teen jumped when he felt a slight prod _inside_ his brain and Batman's baritone suddenly asked, inside his head, " _What's your name?_ "

Danny could only blink for a moment up at the black-clad hero, ignoring the embarrassed way his cheeks heated up when he could hear the other teens giggle hysterically to themselves, more than amused at seeing their newfound enemy so confused and shocked.

The black-haired teen tried to tell himself he shouldn't be embarrassed. After all, he'd never actually come across another person with meta-powers, to his knowledge. He'd assumed Skulker and Plasmius had them but their abilities, if they had any, were unknown to him. This was, honest to God, the first time he'd ever had other's attack him with their own abilities and gifts.

Impatiently, Batman sharply asked again, _"What's your name?"_

The teen's blank and shocked face melted into a glare but, of course, it couldn't level the look the Dark Knight was giving him. Danny ignored how foolish he must've looked and snapped back, _"Why should I tell you?"_

Robin gave Danny an appraising look for standing up to Batman in such a way, despite the older teen's obvious lack of knowledge on how to deal with such a confrontation. Kid Flash, Superboy, and Artemis cringed in sympathy, knowing full well that questioning the Dark Knight was never a good way to act in an interrogation with him.

Batman's glare stayed on Danny, though it seemed to have become darker in a few quick seconds. _"You can either tell me yourself or I'll have Miss Martian rift through your head and tell us everything we need for you. Your choice."_

Danny sighed and kept his own glare locked with the Dark Knight's, a sulking tinge added to his expression as he reviewed his options. He played with the ends of his jacket before mentally sighing. _"My name's Danny."_

 _"_ _Last name?"_

 _"_ _Fenton."_

 _"_ _Are you the one that Penelope Spectra's captor referred to as 'Sandman?'"_

 _"_ _Yup."_

 _"_ _Do you work for anyone?"_

 _"_ _No."_

Before the interrogation could continue, a feminine voice Danny recognized as the green-skilled from all those weeks ago spoke up, saying _"He's lying."_

Batman, once again, leveled another glare at the teen that continued to kneel before him. Danny's face had morphed into an unhappy scowl at being caught. The silent question of whether Danny wanted to have his mind invaded or not was clear across the Dark Knight's face. It earned an irritated sigh from Danny, who corrected, _"Yes."_

 _"_ _Who do you work for?"_

 _"_ _Some guy named Plasmius. The only other guy I know that works for him is Skulker. Couldn't tell you much about them though."_

Batman's eyes drifted from Danny's annoyed face to Miss Martian's, who stood a distance behind the ebony-haired boy. The red-head nodded at him, telling him silently that Danny was indeed telling the truth about not knowing anything else about the two men. It seemed they had kept everything about themselves a secret as an insurance policy if something like this ever happened.

 _"_ _Why do you work for Plasmius?"_

Danny stayed silent for that one. His blue eyes dropped to the floor and his hands, which had been rather still for the last few moments, began to play with his the end of his jacket again. The teen studied the concrete before being asked the question again. Sighing for umpteenth and realizing just how much his life had spun out of control, Danny lifted his head and looked at the tablet in Batman's hand, which was noticed by the hero, before his eyes continued traveling back up to the Dark Knight's eyes. _"_ _I have a problem that I don't quite know how to deal with anymore…"_

* * *

 **I think ya'll seriously doubt how bored I get sometimes.**

 **Alright, the first scenario is done! Don't worry; there will be lighter chapters. The plot I had going for this was just way too dark for humor (and the plot will probably be revisited sometime). Anyways, the chapter titles will tell whatever superpower Danny will have and, I have to say, this chapter title is _inaccurate_. Sleep inducement does put people to sleep but does not allow the inducer to control their enemy's deeds. Actually, almost all of the sleep powers I've read up on take place on a mental level, not physical like Danny's (which explains why he can't put them to sleep during their telepathic conversation). If you know what this would be called, please do tell.**

 **On another note, if you read Medium, the set-up is going to be a lot like that. This will be marked as 'complete' but I will update to this spastically. Really, this is just random ideas I get and write while I work on other plots off to the side. Right now, it'll probably end up being my main muse for awhile.**

 **And I haven't been completely inactive. I have a buddy named Fear the Fuzzy Bear and she does three word prompts and posts them to her story, Three Words. Authors such as _awesomeninja09_ and _ShinyMudkipGirl_ also help her out. You guys should read it. It's a fun read. ^^**

 **See you guys next chapter! And thanks to the 88% of people who voted yes (all 16 of you guys)! The 12% (which was, like, 2 people) who voted no aren't here so oh well for them... XD**

 **EDIT: HerdingDog1 helped me think of a new name. Thank you to him!**


	2. Deck of Cards

**Danny Phantom/Justice League x-over. Young Justice is mentioned.**

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Ch.2: Deck of Cards

Danny blew a strand of white hair out of his face as he grinned down at the restraints keeping his hands chained together. The handcuffs were made out of unmarred stainless-steel, glinting brightly in the florescent lighting from the long, narrow bulbs above his head. They were probably new with the pristine condition they were in or simply had never been used before. After all, the Dark Knight probably had a gazillion different pairs of handcuffs in that fancy belt of his. He seemed to carry just as many bat-a-rangs at all times.

The boy's green eyes drifted up and found his reflection in the one-way glass in front of him. For a moment, he studied his mess of white hair and peridot eyes. His head was tilted to the side, a small smirk adorning his lips. His shoulders were loose and rather slumped as he sat back in his chair. Danny reminisced over a time when he was a tiny thing and barely would've seen his eyes in the mirror-like glass across from him.

With a sigh, Danny peeked towards the door, as if expecting someone to enter. However, no one did and, so far, no one had. The ghost wondered if anyone was going to finally come and interrogate him. He had to have been sitting in the same uncomfortable, metal chair for a good hour. The seventeen-year-old was getting rather impatient. Any longer and he was just going to get up and leave, like he should've done in the first place.

Thinking back to how he got to this room, Danny vividly remembered flying from a government base with a canister filled to the brim with raw ectoplasm that the scientists were studying while trying to keep the substance under wraps. They were trying to learn everything about the substance that made up the specters that had been invading the world for the past couple of years from another dimension called the Ghost Zone.

However, Danny didn't want them to have the ability to create even more weapons to use against ghosts and, promptly, stormed the government's headquarters and stolen the canister. On his way back to his temporary HQ, he'd been knocked from the sky by a barrage of attacks from various people and had, subsequently, rammed head-first into an office building, knocking him out. When he woke up, he had been handcuffed and was being held in the interrogation room he was still casually relaxing in.

The seventeen-year-old knew he could've easily escaped if he wanted to. After all, nothing seemed to be ghost-proof. The handcuffs definitely weren't; if they had been, they would've been humming with energy. The metal firmly clasped around his wrists was cold and quiet.

When he had made this discovery a few minutes after waking up, Danny had to resist laughing his head off. Instead, he played the cocky villain that was never fazed by anything and simply reclined in his seat as he waited for something interesting to happen. It was sad to admit but his capture had been the most interesting thing that had happened to him for awhile.

Danny continued to wait for someone to interrogate him as tried to find pictures in the ceiling to pass the time. After finding a dozen or so images that looked like disfigured animals and people doing impossible things, Danny sighed irritably, his smirk gone, as his green eyes drifted to the door again. Shaking his head, as if disappointed, he mumbled, "Screw it."

Sitting up straight, Danny shook his hands once and his smirk came back to his face as the handcuffs fell right through his intangible wrists. Standing up, the seventeen-year-old dusted his hands off as he strolled towards the door. Phasing his head through the door, Danny saw no one in the hallway and let the rest of his body follow him through. Looking in both directions, Danny frowned at the strange feeling he got from looking up and down the hall.

The ghost had assumed he had been brought to a police-station, if the typical interrogation room was anything to go by. However, the hallway he was in reminded him of a sci-fi movie. Where was he?

Cautiously walking down the hallway and keeping close to the wall, Danny kept his steps light and silent. He didn't know if any of the supers were around, as some of them had enhanced hearing, and he also didn't know where he was to begin with. It was better to keep his head down and stay out of sight, despite his knowing that there were cameras _somewhere_ around watching him.

Staying out of sight would've been easier if he had his invisibility. However, that ability had been stripped from him when he died and had been replaced with a shadow form that worked well in dark places but was utterly useless in well-lit areas. Why his invisibility had been taken from him, Danny was unsure. It just made his afterlife much more difficult than it needed to be.

Danny carefully weaved through the various hallways, ducking into different hallways when he thought he heard someone coming his way. There were even a few times he phased into the walls to hide from whoever was coming his way but, by doing so, he never found out who it was that was walking through the halls. Therefore, he never pinpointed where his location was.

As the teen heard the sounds of approaching feet, he phased into a door to his right, hoping no one was behind it. Much to his intense relief, it was merely a storage closet holding all sorts of cleaning products and equipment. After basking in his small victory, Danny pressed his ear to the door and listened as the small group of people began approaching his location.

"Bats, what's the problem?! It's not the first time we brought a villain to the Watchtower! We always wipe their memories once we're done! What's the problem?"

If Danny remembered correctly, that was Superman's voice. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was talking to Batman, who was commonly referred to as 'Bats,' among other nicknames. By their quick steps, Danny could tell the Dark Knight was rushing, most likely towards the interrogation room if Superman's comment had anything to do with Batman's worry. Though Danny had to wonder… What was the Watchtower?

"Do you not understand who you left alone?!"

"No! Come on, Bats. It's just some amateur kid. He was taken down easily and hasn't made a peep since. There's nothing to worry about!"

" _Phantom_ is on the government's top-ten most-wanted list. He's standing at a proud number four, Superman! He is not just _some amateur kid_ and you all left him alone and unsupervised!"

The footsteps continued down the hall as the argument continued and Danny cursed quietly under his breath. He wished he had left the room sooner; he could've investigated, what he assumed was, the Justice League's headquarters and could've even left by now. However, he had been stupid and waited. The teen was going to have to hurry.

Phasing through the door, Danny raced down the hall silently and continued to avoid the sounds of people, trying to stay hidden. However, not too long after leaving the supply closet, alarms began ringing throughout the complex, echoing off the halls. It was quickly followed by Batman's voice saying there was a prisoner loose on the Watchtower. Danny could hear the uproar from the other supers that followed.

The ghost cursed under his breath as he raced down the hallways. Danny actively avoided the other heroes in the building, simply not wanting to take them on all at one time. As fate would have it, they wanted him to at least run into a few heroes, as Danny found himself facing the Flash as he turned into another hallway. The red-clad hero narrowed his eyes at him. Not one to disappoint, Danny smiled sweetly and waved. "Hello~! Hey, what's your worst fear?"

Taken back by the sudden question, Flash could only stutter a confused, "What?!"

"You don't know? Ok, let's find out." Danny said, flicking his wrist in the air. A single card appeared in his hand. Flash saw it looked like a playing card and he was staring at the back of it. It had a black base, an image of a theatrical mask with a frown on its face in the center. Red and white ribbons wrapped around the mask and flowed around the picture.

The teen studied his side of the picture, seeing a picture of a tunnel made of red, orange, and yellow light. The words written in Esperanto lining the edges of the card read the Flash was afraid of getting caught in the Speed-Force and never being able to escape again. Despite not knowing what the heck that was, Danny looked up and smiled. "Aw, is someone afraid of the Speed-Force?"

Flash's eyes widened, having only told a few people about his fear. Danny only shrugged at him, still smiling, and flicked the card in the air. It fluttered around for a moment before zooming across the hallway and attaching itself to Flash's arm. The hero, unsure of what the card could do, tried scratching it off but it stayed stuck to him, as if coated in glue.

Danny flew past the speedster, slamming his shoulder against the older male's. It knocked the hero off-balance and he fell to the ground, the fear card still stuck to his arm. The teen didn't wait around to see the effects of the fear card as he raced down a few more corridors. He barely got three hallways away when he heard Flash shriek desperately. The teen smirked, knowing the scream of an ally was sure to draw in other heroes, efficiently getting a whole batch of heroes out of the way for a short amount of time.

Of course, Danny still managed to run right into different groups attempting to reach Flash. There were a few he didn't even know existed but he pushed his shock aside. With each new hero, he didn't bother to banter anymore and just whipped out a card that was always created to reflect on the victim's worst fear. After throwing it in the air, he always quickly left the premises, leaving each person to succumb to their own personal hells all alone.

By taking down one superhero with his fear cards, it always efficiently knocked two of the Leaguers out of the game. Someone had to stay behind to make sure their fear-stricken ally wasn't attacked again by the villain and to attempt to calm the terrified super so they wouldn't accidently hurt themselves or one of their other allies.

The petrified shrieks that echoed off the hallways and throughout the entire Watchtower didn't bother the teen villain at all.

Danny laughed happily when he finally found, what looked to be, the main room that was always used as lobbies in large buildings. He was confused by the large computer along one wall and the catwalks above him but ignored it, looking for the exits excitedly. What he came face-to-face with differed very much from what he had expected to find.

There was a large glass wall off to one side, revealing the spectacular view of outer-space. The sun was in the distance, glowing brightly and surrounded by much smaller stars that shone with their own beautiful lights. Down below, the earth spun slowly with white clouds moving across its surface. Looking down at it, Danny thought it looked a lot like a glass sphere that could be shattered with just one wrong move.

"I'm glad I didn't phase through the roof like usual..." Danny mumbled, shaking his head at the large window. While quietly thanking the Lord that he hadn't gone through with his usual routine, he was suddenly struck with a question. Feeling the color drain from his face, Danny quietly mumbled, "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Booming footsteps began echoing down halls, hurrying towards Danny's general location. In his shock, he hadn't realized most of the terrified sounds bouncing around the large HQ had begun quieting, though they hadn't disappeared quite yet. No one could shake off the fear cards' power that quickly, no matter who you were.

Danny leaped into action after hearing the thundering noise coming his way. He phased through the wall to his side and began flying through various rooms, praying each one didn't lead out into the vast expanse of space. As far as he was aware, no ghost had ever been in space and he didn't want to be the one to find out if something horrible happened to them when they did.

The teen continued to weave in and out of the rooms, evading the heroes that were trying with all their might to catch him. Danny used more fear cards on any and all the supers he came across, not liking the infuriated look Batman wore before Danny threw another card in the air and raced away, wishing he had got a glimpse of the fear Batman had before he threw the card in the air.

When Danny found a room that was larger than most of the others, he stopped briefly and looked around. His peridot eyes widened when he saw a few portals built into the side of the walls with controls set near each one. It was how the Leaguers got to and from the planet down below the large satellite.

Danny flew over to one of the controls, not understanding the set-up. All he saw were different colored buttons and a dial but there was no form of labeling to tell the user what buttons to push to get where they wanted. Therefore, Danny did what any other reasonable person trying to escape a hero HQ would do.

He pressed random buttons.

The teen must've pressed something right because the portal near him lit up. Danny's eyes widened for a split second before he looked behind him, where the door leading to the hallway was. He shrugged to himself before running inside, watching as the white light enveloped him for a few seconds before dropping him off at whatever location he had set-up.

The white-haired, green-eyed boy was _not_ happy to see himself get dropped off in a hollowed-out mountain. With an irritated sigh, Danny mumbled to himself, " _Great_ … Where am I _now_?"

* * *

 **Think of Danny's deck of cards like Green Lantern's power-ring. They count as superpowers in their own right, as do mutations. Keep that in mind for future chapters. :) And yes, I completely ignored the scanning feature in the Justice League's Zeta-tubes.**

 **This chapter was requested by the fabulous _GuardianWitchDemiGhost!_** **It's all her idea (and I probably got some interpretations wrong) and she plans on taking this idea back and writing a multi-chapter story on it. This can be classified as a branch-off of her wonderful idea. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us. ^^ And by the way, we will most-likely never see Danny's ghost powers again in this fic. They were simply to be as close to _GuardianWitchDemiGhost's_ idea as possible.**

 **We're gonna have one more dark-ish chapter before I finally get into lighter themes (l just made a terrible pun but ya'll won't understand until later).**

 **Thanks to these people for favoriting/following:** ** _Fear the Fuzzy Bear, HerdingDog1, Kimera20, KingOfWhispers, Blazingkill, Lalenja, ZombiesArePeopleToo, hitomi-tama, kuro-okami13, Blackthorn Ashe, Jessica Jayme Bell, Reading for escape, King of Khaos, Roselin, kitkatkate2008, Saramaster, nightmaster000, KainVixenheim, definitelynotakiller, Syafiq, SweetyKinz, Fati Sid, Eirena Gaia, Kimori Takahashi._**


	3. Reality Warping

**Danny Phantom/Batman (mentions of the other Leaguers). This is the last for a little while, I swear. Don't kill me.**

* * *

Ch.3: Reality Warping

Danny stirred from his slumber when he felt a rumble under him. His blue eyes cracked open for a moment and he breathed a sigh as he lifted his head off the pillow. He looked over his dark shoulder apprehensively but found nothing unusually shaped in the space around him. With the assessment done, Danny ignored whatever the sound had been and let his head fall back to his pillow again. Closing his eyes, he started sinking back into the depths of sleep.

However, his bed shook under him for a few seconds before settling down again. Danny, confused and only half-awake, propped himself up on one elbow and rubbed his face with his hand, mumbling a question under his breath on what was going on. He looked around the room again, though he only checked for strange things a few seconds ago. Still seeing nothing, he got up and walked to the window, wondering if something was happening outside.

Pulling the curtain back, Danny rubbed his eye and scanned the scenery outside the pane of glass. The usual scene stared back at him. Office buildings stood tall but were darkened, as if sleeping themselves. Down below, restaurants, bars, and clubs stayed open with music making the structures rattle and bar-hoppers came and went. The mall and movie theater in the distance were also still open, people wandering into the brightly lit buildings while others headed towards their cars.

Once again, there was nothing unusual with what Danny was seeing and the sixteen-year-old wondered if maybe there was just a small earthquake. It would explain the rumbling and shaking of his room.

Shaking his head, Danny wandered back to where his twin bed sat cozily in its corner. The sheets were ruffled and bunched up where Danny's waist would be. His pillow had a noticeable head-print in it and laid at an angle, where Danny had hugged it in his sleep. The large, fluffy comforter was dangling over the end, since the room was too warm to use without sweating off a couple of pounds. The clock on the nightstand beside the bed read **1:23**.

Danny eagerly slipped back under his sheets and pulled them over his body, tucking them under his chin as his free arm journeyed under his pillow. He curled up for a moment before relaxing and breathing another sigh as he closed his tired, crystalline blue eyes. He ignored the next few rumbles and shakes the room gave while trying to sleep, finding them more of a nuisance than anything else.

However, when there was a loud _BOOM_ from outside that shook the room hard enough for the clock to fall off the edge of the table. Danny worriedly sat up and looked around his room as everything vibrated. It only lasted for, maybe, a half a minute before the trembles began easing away. The quivers stopped and Danny continued to sit on his bed, looking at the disarray his things were now in. He cautiously bent down over the side of his bed and picked his clock back up, setting it warily on the table again. He ignored the crack in the plastic, splitting the numbers into two sections.

Not too long after the vicious trembles of the room had subsided, they began again and Danny vaguely wondered what the heck was up with the earthquake. He mulled in his thoughts, feeling the quivers shaking the room getting worse just as they seemed to ease away. The teen told himself many times that the building he was in was one of the strongest the country had; it survived the last bad earthquake it had. Even so, the boy's eyes found the iron, knob-less door to his left and stared at it longingly.

Suddenly, there was another _BOOM_ and the sixteen-year-old was knocked from the bed, landing uncomfortably on the tile floor under him. Danny yelped as the nightstand crashed to the ground right beside him, almost falling on top of the boy and crushing him. Luckily, it was a few inches off, allowing the teen to scoot to the center of the room and look to the ceiling in uncertainty.

Blue eyes squinted when the iron door suddenly opened with a _swoosh_ and armed guards stormed the room, quickly grabbing Danny and pulling him to his feet. The teen yelped again as he was rushed out of the room and into the brightly lit hallway outside, though the lights had begun flickering on and off unstably. The black-haired boy saw that his two friends, Sam and Tucker, and the other kids on the floor were also being dragged from their rooms as well.

Upon the three friends seeing each other, they instantly knew what was going on. They were all being dragged towards another simulation, despite the earth quaking around them. Dread filled them, remembering the last simulation they had been put through. Even though there was nothing in the realities they were put in that could hurt them, it was always scary as hell being put in one. It was like walking through a corn maze; you knew none of the things that jumped out at you were going to hurt you but you always screamed and jumped back from the assailant anyways.

Sam and Tucker tried making their guards slow so they could near Danny, who was in the back. However, the men were having none of it and dragged the teens along. They were ushered into an elevator with the other teenagers and two other guards. The two teens were relieved when Danny was also ushered on but they were taken back when the guards in the back shook their heads, silently saying it was too much. The doors began closing. The three teens fought to be together but they were held back and the doors closed.

"What's going on?!" Danny yelled, angrily lashing out at the man that tried to usher him in another direction. The men tried calming him but the teen wanted nothing to do with them, sick of being taken places and never having anything explained to him. When the ebony-haired boy continued to refuse cooperation, the man in charge stepped forward and gave Danny a sharp slap across the cheek.

That efficiently stopped the teen but made him back away from the guards with shock and a tinge of fear shining in his blue eyes, brushing his fingers against his red-tinted flesh.

"Kid, we need to go. You'll see your friends in a little bit." The man that had slapped the boy said, stepping forward to roughly grab his arm. Before he could, the building jerked to the side, sending everyone flying to the ground. The lights powered down, leaving everyone in darkness. All the armed guards and the one teen stayed close to the ground as they waited for the building to settle.

Much to their horror, the building began falling to the side.

Danny yelped as office supplies, stacks of paper, computers, and keyboards began sliding off the desks, landing all around him as he covered his head. Chairs slid by him, almost toppling over on top of him. They fell to the glass-walls that were used as windows but were quickly becoming the floor. The armed men began sliding across the tiled floor, as did Danny. Everyone grabbed onto the desks that were bolted to the floors and held on tight, waiting for the impact sure to come.

The top of the building they were in crashed into its next door neighbor. The top of the structure smashed through the walls and created a gaping hole in the side. Various levels of the other building were destroyed, revealing the disarray inside the office building. Debris fell from the toppled-over structure, crashing against the concrete walkways outside.

Danny breathed heavily as he hugged the leg on the desk, shutting his eyes to calm himself. He was fine; dangling from the side of the desk but fine, nonetheless. The glass walls were still miraculously intact under them but cracks spider-webbed across the surface. Electronics and office supplies lay haphazardly across the glass, still.

"Is everyone ok?" One of the men called. Danny recognized the voice as the guard who slapped him.

A chorus of 'yes's' rose from the other men as they continued to press against or dangle from the bolted desks. After, it grew quiet as the men began thinking of ways to get out of the mess they were in. None of them could reach the stairs, which had probably been destroyed anyways, and the elevator was immediately out of the question. The only way out was through the windows below them but no one would survive the twelve story drop that would follow.

The ebony-haired teen kept quiet as well, not knowing what to say. As he scanned the room for a potential exit, he gasped when the desk he was holding onto creaked under his hands. His entire body stiffened up and his mind drew a blank when he knew he should find something else to hang onto instead of the unstable desk.

"Kid, are you over there?!" The guard questioned worriedly from his spot.

Danny hummed a yes before calling anxiously, "Yeah, I'm here. What do I do?! The desk won't hold up for long though! What do I-"

"Calm down!" The man barked, making Danny shut his trap as he winced at another creak the desk gave. The man gently told Danny to stay as still as possible while trying to find something else to hold on to for the time being. Danny tried to find something but there was nothing in his reach that he could hold onto. He was on the very far side of the room and only a wall was behind him. The only thing to hold onto was the unstable desk.

"There's nothing over here!" Danny called, wishing he could see the older man.

"Alright, just stay calm! I'll figure out a way for you to-"

 _CRACK!_

 _"Shit!"_

One of the bolts crumbled abruptly, jerking the desk around. Danny gripped the leg of the desk tighter, breath hitching in his throat as he flailed for a moment before settling down. The guard's curse carried over the groans and Danny listened as the man continued, "Alright, that's it! Kid, I need you to crawl to the other side of the desk so I can grab you. Can you do that for me?"

Danny nodded, even though he knew the older male couldn't see him. To make up for it, Danny hummed his understanding loud enough for the man to hear him. After, he took a deep breath and began to slowly pull himself up so he could crawl across the side of the desk and reach the guard. However, as his head began appearing over the side, another bolt _popped_ loudly and the desk began sliding towards the glass under it.

The teen screamed, drowning out the guards' panicked yells, as he slid along with the large contraption, letting go off the desk and bracing himself for impact. Both the teen and the desk slammed against the cracked window at the same time, shattering it completely. Shards of glass, office supplies, papers, electronics, the desk, and one teen began free-falling. Danny continued to scream as he whipped around, heading for the hard concrete at high speeds. The teen's pupils constricted when they saw the hard ground before his eyelids shut over his eyes quickly. He hugged himself, waiting for the terrible impact to come.

Danny collided with a wall of water.

At the hard impact, despite the destination being liquid, Danny became dizzy and stayed submerged in the water for a few seconds before he tried to take a breath. The water that entered his nose and mouth woke him up quickly, making his blue eyes snap open. He saw glass shards and office utensils raining down around him and falling to the bottom of the pit he had landed in, which was around twelve feet deep.

Shielding his head with his arms, Danny kicked towards the surface and broke the water. He coughed up the water he inhaled before he put his arms down, as the debris had stopped falling. He looked around and saw he was where he was supposed to have landed, except a pool of water had taken the place of the concrete. His powers, the ability to twist reality to his will, had come in handy when he was in danger, once again.

Above him, the building Danny had been living in for the past year and a half was smashed into two pieces. One half continued to stand straight into the air while the half Danny had fallen out of continued to lean against the building behind the teen. There were flames on the top level of the intact part and the teen wasn't too surprised to see other parts of Metropolis on fire. In the air, Superman and other members of the Justice League were fighting a dragon the size of two buses stacked on top of each other. The dragon's mouth was clamped shut by a golden lasso. Wonder Woman was holding on to the rope tightly as she was dragged behind the dragon as it flipped and spun in the air, trying to knock her off to free himself from the rope.

"DANNY!"

The blue-eyed boy turned his head to see his two friends rushing towards him as the rest of the teens were ushered into a stairwell that led to an underground bunker. A few guards were chasing after them but they were determined to get to their friend and make sure he was alright after free-falling twelve stories.

Danny pulled himself out of the water and stood up, just as Sam and Tucker reached him and tackled him in a hug. The three smiled and breathed sighs of relief before they abruptly screamed as a broken piece of the building above them crashed into the ground near them, efficiently stopping the guards from reaching the teens. The trio, scared out of their wits and survival instincts taking over, began racing in the opposite direction. They sped through the parking lot, jumping over obstacles and ducking past others. The three continued running, even as they left their home's perimeter and began passing office buildings, restaurants, and small shops.

Sam, Danny, and Tucker ran a good five blocks before slowing and letting ideas rush through their heads. As they began jogging through an apartment complex parking lot, Danny's blue eyes scanned over the cars and noticed most of them were completely untouched. An idea struck Danny as the _booms_ and _crashes_ continued behind them.

"Guys!" Danny yelled as he slowed, efficiently getting his friends to do the same. They looked at him apprehensively, panting and breathing hard. The ebony-haired boy gestured to the cars around them. "Let's drive out of here! Tuck, you know how to hotwire a car, right?"

Tucker nodded and the three ran to the nearest car. The cocoa-skinned boy took to the driver's door and tried the handle, only for it to be locked. Tucker only shrugged and pressed his fingers to the lock in the side. Behind him, Sam and Danny were carefully watching the skies for any dragons and/or superheroes. They waited for Tucker to open the door but the turquoise-eyed teen was doing anything but pressing two fingers to the lock.

Sam casted a look over her shoulder and mumbled, "Tuck, any day now would be much appreciated."

"Trying. Powers aren't responding." Tucker mumbled quietly back, as if the volume in his voice would make a difference. He sighed irritably, trying his hardest to get his powers to work but they refused to respond to his mental commands. The cocoa-skinned boy growled irritably and very nearly slammed his head into the side of the truck to ease his oncoming headache.

"Tuck…" Danny mumbled, grabbing his head friend by the shoulder as Sam's face paled to his side. Tucker looked over his shoulder and saw the dragon, still dragging Wonder Woman behind it, flying in their general direction. Superman's red laser-beams shot from his eyes, burning the dragon's back. The amber-colored beast threw his head back before flipping again, sending Wonder Woman crashing into a building. The lasso wrapped around its muzzle loosened and the creature began shaking it off.

The ebony-haired male's blue eyes met Tucker's turquoise ones. The cocoa-skinned male turned back around, trying more than ever to get his powers to respond. Much to his intense relief, his fingers finally melded together and flatted until his appendages looked like a metal key. The fleshy key slipped into the lock, adjusted its form, and unlocked the door.

When he felt the almost indistinguishable click inside, Tucker yanked the door open and allowed Sam to hop into the extended cab in the back before he went to work hotwiring the car. He did it much quicker than he did the lock, as his powers were now responding to his calls. Tucker grinned when the car roared to life and then eagerly hopped into the passenger seat, allowing Danny to get into the driver's seat and slam the door behind them. Tucker asked, "You remember anything from your short time in driver's-ed?"

"Red means stop; green means go. That's about it." Danny replied as he stomped on the gas, pulling out of the parking spot and driving as quickly as he dared towards the exit, pulling onto the deserted main drag. Everyone winced when there was another explosion behind them, rather close. Danny didn't dare look behind him as he sped down the road, hopefully putting distance between the destruction and the car they were driving.

Danny, a few miles down the road and still not happy with how far they had gotten, pulled off the road when he saw the exit. He sped down the ramp and continued speeding down the road. No other cars were in sight; it was the dead of night, not the most opportune time to drive, and the ones that did drive during the night avoided Metropolis because of the fight that had quickly gone national once the rest of the Justice League had joined Superman. It allowed for a few rule-breaking moments.

The ebony-haired teen finally allowed the car to slow when they couldn't hear anymore crashes and explosions. The night sky in Metropolis had been blazing red with the amount of fires around town but now it was black spotted with millions of white lights. The moon hung quietly in the sky, lighting up the earth to the best of its abilities. The truck the teen's had hijacked continued to be the only one traveling the long stretch of road.

"Alright, we're clear." Sam said, watching as the last of red painted sky fell from their view. Turning to the front, she leaned between her friends' seats and looked back and forth at them. "What do we do now?"

Danny pulled off the road and stopped in the break-down lane, letting the car idle while he turned to face his two friends in his seat. Tucker did the same, getting himself comfortable. Sam just watched and waited for them, having no ideas herself about what they were supposed to do now.

The Institute for Unstable Metas had been their 'home' for almost as long as they had had their powers. It was run by a group of scientists that wanted to help the ever-growing population of super-humans by teaching them how to use their superpowers. However, no one but older, more experienced metas, such as the people in the Justice League, knew how to really control the various abilities.

This led the scientists to have to study the various people who were brought to their care. They never overstepped any boundaries and had never harmed any of the subjects. However, they did keep the ones with more violent powers mostly isolated, like the three teens, to avoid any potential accidents if their powers were unleashed without the wielder's consent. After all, it was accidents caused by their powers that led them to be placed within the institute to begin with.

Danny had accidently brought his science experiment into a sentient being that had nearly destroyed his entire school had it not been for the teen turning the monster back into a pile of goop. Tucker had been brainstorming invention ideas with his friend and nearly stabbed the other boy when his hand had unconsciously merged into a tool they would've needed to build their contraption. Sam, whose powers consisted of the ability to control plant life, had almost accidently had her annoying, older cousin strangled when she grew irritated with the girl.

Needless to say, they were all traumatized by the incidents that had transpired and, during the few times they had been allowed to hang out with each other, had bonded rather quickly from said events. They became like family within a few visits, as they weren't allowed to see their parents and siblings (if they had them) until they 'graduated' from the institute. As far as they knew, no one that had been admitted to the institute had graduated yet.

"We should probably head back to the institute…or what's left of it." Tucker suggested, grimacing at the flashback that ran through his head of the dragon slamming into the building and practically chopping it in half. The top half of the building had fallen right into the insurance building across the street. For a few agonizing minutes, nothing else happened. Then one of the glass windows had shattered and down came Danny, screaming and flailing. Luckily, a pit of water had been summoned into existence under him before he could land on the concrete. Sam and Tucker had slipped away in the fray, worried about their friend.

Sam snorted at the idea, shaking her head. "As of right now, there's nothing _to_ go back to. That dragon-thing split the building in two. And how are we supposed to know when it's ok to go back? They could still be fighting right now."

"The JL should have everything covered by morning." Tucker said, waving his female friend off casually. Both eyes turned to Danny to see his reaction as they waited for his reply.

The ebony-haired boy shrugged with a nonchalant look. "I was thinking we could go visit our families."

Both of the boy's friends perked at the suggestion before they thought it over. Despite living in different cities, they might actually have time to do such a thing with the institute destroyed and having other teenagers to watch; teens with powers that were harder to control than theirs. Keeping them calm while the executives worked on moving them to a safe location was going to take a lot of hands with none to spare. The trio wouldn't be sought after for a long time.

"Let's do it." Sam said, a smile blossoming on her face. Danny and Tucker mirrored her look before they all fixed themselves in their seats. They pulled on their seatbelts for the first time and buckled them in before Danny began driving the car down the highway. The three friends fell into an easy silence as they looked out the window and Tucker found a station on the radio for them to listen to.

As they settled down and daydreamed about seeing their families, the adrenaline that had been coursing through their veins began to subside. Eyes drooped and their tiredness came back, having left when the armed guards stormed each of their rooms. Sam nodded off first in the back of the truck, head resting on her seatbelt. Tucker feel asleep next, curled up in his seat as Selena Gomez's new song came over the radio.

In the driver's seat, Danny forced his eyes open as he continued to steer the car down the deserted road. He figured he should probably pull off the highway and rest for a little bit but part of him really wanted to be able to reach the next exit. He turned the soft music up, hoping the beats would be able to wake him up a little so he could continue with his and his friend's journey.

The teen continued to keep himself barely awake for the next half-hour. His eyes continued to drift close before he forced them open again, fighting sleep with all his might. However, the truck kept its pace as it rolled down the highway, taking the scarce turns with ease, despite its driver's obvious need for rest.

As the teen's eyes began drooping again, his head began falling towards his chest. A mixture of his chin hitting his chin and bright headlights reflecting off his mirrors made his head come up again and his opens open to spot a family of raccoons crossing the road twenty feet in front of him.

Danny let out a scream as he jerked the wheel to the side, dodging the raccoons and driving right off the side of the road. His friends were startled awake as the truck flew down a hill with Danny attempting to stop them with the brake. Everyone continued to scream as they saw a tree in their headlights, right in the middle of their path.

Just as they were about to hit the tree, the light from the headlights disappeared and their vision was blocked by a mass of green. Everyone shrieked again as something sharp dug into their chests, wrapping around the rest of their bodies. They were thrown forward, as if they hit something, but the sharp edges of whatever was holding them down kept them pinned, digging into their clothes and skin painfully.

After that, everything settled down and the teens were left hanging in whatever it was that they were stuck in.

Not being able to help himself, Tucker asked, "What… _The fuck. Just happened?!_ "

Sam attempted to move but only felt sharp pricks in her body. She huffed, blowing some of her black hair from her face. She felt along the foreign object crossing over chest. It was a smooth, thick, hard, and there were sharp points jutting out all over the smooth surface. The girl sighed. "I think Danny turned the truck into a giant thorn bush. So instead of broken bones, we get gashes. I'm so thrilled."

Danny felt his cheeks heating up in embarrassment and squirmed in his spot. He stopped when he felt the thorns dig deeper with his movements. "Sorry…"

"It's ok, dude. Out of all of us, I still think the time Sam accidently attacked us with her plants instead of the enemies in that one simulation we did has been the most epic fail." Tucker reassured. Their failures at controlling their powers always made them nervous and it was a very touchy subject. "Now, speaking of plants… Sam, get us out of here!"

Feeling uncomfortable, Sam shifted again and winced at some of the thorns. "Shut up! I'm working on it! This is a lot harder than it looks!"

"The same could be said for any of our powers!"

"Guys, fighting about this isn't going to get us anywhere! Tuck, let's shut up and let Sam concentrate! I really wanna get out of here; it's uncomfortable!" Danny snapped, making his cocoa-skinned friend fall quiet. The two boys continued to stay quiet while their female friend closed her eyes in the back, concentrating as hard as she could. The two boys became confused when they heard a car engine and lights began shining through the cracks in the thorn bush. They didn't say anything aloud but they wondered who else had been driving around at this time of night.

Much to their intense relief, the thorny vines wrapped around them began to carefully recede, leaving the three teens to fall onto the grassy ground that had been hidden under all the thorns. The vines created a dome around them with no exit before Sam made a small opening in the side, allowing them to crawl while their superficial cuts bled slowly. To their joy, the thorns hadn't done much to harm them.

As they stopped outside the opening, they looked up in the direction of the light shining down at them and their eyes widened when they saw the Dark Knight of Gotham standing halfway down the hill, his massive car waiting at the crest of the hill. He had a curious expression on his face as he looked the teens over before scanning over the massive thorn-dome that Sam had created. Batman said absolutely nothing, which unnerved the teens to no end.

After waiting for, what felt like, an eternity, Batman asked, "You ready to go back now?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out what he meant by the question. The trio didn't know how the institute got the hero to run after them but they guessed it didn't matter now. He found them, which was all that mattered.

Besides, it was for the best. After all, Danny's powers were accidently triggered for the second time in the past couple of hours. Granted, they had been helpful both times (sort of) but they were still acting up without his consent. Who knew what would set them off next or if Sam's or Tucker's were suddenly triggered as well? Yes, going back to the institute was the best thing they could do.

Even so, they couldn't stop the feeling of disappointment that overcame them.

Nodding, the three got up from the ground and dusted themselves off under the Dark Knight's scrutinizing gaze. The trio trekked up the hill and, as they drew closer, Batman turned, easily retracing his steps back to the Batmobile. He jumped in, easily falling into the driver's seat and silently waiting for the teens to follow him in, seeing as their ride was now a giant dome made out of a thorn bush.

Sam, Danny, and Tucker looked at each other as they neared the stunning, black vehicle sitting on the side of the road. They hesitated before getting in and buckling themselves in. They were startled when the top closed over them and were given a first-aid kit to clean up their cuts. Afterwards, Batman stomped on the gas, making the teens jerk back in their seats at the quick speed. They quickly turned around and began the drive back towards Metropolis.

The teens couldn't see the Dark Knight's face but they had a feeling he was smirking in his seat.

Looking into one of his mirrors, Batman looked over the beat-up teens again. They had adjusted to the speed faster than he thought they would have but their reactions were more violent than he had predicted; something he found very amusing. However, he didn't let the thoughts linger as he remembered their disappointed faces as they learned of his chasing them. While living in an institute probably wasn't the greatest thing ever for a few teenagers, the Dark Knight had a feeling their disappointment laid in something deeper than that.

So, of course, he decided to investigate.

* * *

Batman pulled up to a hotel down the street from the destroyed institute and looked in his mirror. The teens were all leaning on each other, blissfully asleep. In all honesty, he half-expected most of the staff and all the other unstable metas that were now hanging out in the large complex to be asleep as well. After all, it wasn't every night people were evacuated from their temporary residence and moved to a different location because of a dragon that had appeared from a cave just miles from the city.

It amazed Batman how quickly the directors of the institute convinced the manager of the hotel to let them rent the entire building until they found a more suitable location for their activities. Then again, when money spoke, people tended to listen.

The Dark Knight woke the trio up quickly, allowing them to exit the vehicle and before he ushered them towards the building. As soon as they inside, the three teens were swept away by some of the guards and one of the doctors. The trio barely got to say a goodbye before they were gone. Batman was quickly thanked by one of the scientists that had made the institute possible in the first place before the man began walking off. However, the Dark Knight quickly called him back and requested to have some time to speak with him. After getting a puzzled look, the scientist led the Caped Crusader to another room.

Once the door was shut behind them, Batman got right down to business and questioned, "How are things run here?"

The scientist, a blonde-haired man named Dr. Evans, looked startled by the question and completely taken back. He muttered 'uh' for the longest time before shaking his head to clear the sudden fog, responding with a confused, "Excuse me?"

"How are things run here?" Batman repeated impatiently, though he didn't show it outwardly.

"Uh, I'm not quite sure what you mean." Evans mumbled uncertainly, looking the Dark Knight up and down curiously. He resisted tilting his head to the side to further convey his confusion on why the hero wanted to know such things.

Allowing his features to express his irritation, Batman leveled a mild glare at the scientist. Evans fidgeted under his gaze but the Dark Knight was apathetic. Rephrasing his question to something much more precise, Batman asked, "How are the metas helped here? After all, this is a place where they're supposed to be able to learn to control their powers."

Evans sighed. "I'm sorry to say but we keep the admitted mostly in isolation. With how their powers tend to flare up when experiencing strong emotions, we try to minimize the damage by keeping them away from any stressful or upsetting environments. We do allow the admitted to interact once a week so they may socialize but, other than that, they really only see the doctors that study their powers so we may understand them and find a way to help them control them."

"Anything else?"

"Uh, we also put them in simulations sometimes. They're harmless; they take place while the subject is asleep. It just transports their subconscious into a made-up reality where they must survive by using their powers. We do this because almost all the subjects' powers refuse to surface when the wielder calls them. In this way, we give the subjects a little scare to bring their powers to the surface so we may try to solve this puzzle." Evans explained, sighing irritably at the thought and not noticing how the Dark Knight looked like he wanted to smack the blonde man.

"You want to know why their powers act the way they do?" Batman questioned with a hint of irritation lacing his voice. The blonde man looked at him, seemingly curious. "No one can seem to control their powers because they're scared of them; something you doctors instilled in them. They should be confident when using their powers and their ability to control them. Keeping them in isolation doesn't help either. They should be allowed to interact with each other. If they fight with each other, they fight. If they get stressed, they get stressed. Keeping them shielded from every day emotions is not going to help them control their powers. If you're worried about an incident, you should've thought about that before bringing them to a huge city. It would've been smart to take them to a place away from society but not completely disconnected. You wouldn't have had to worry.

"They should also be allowed and even _encouraged_ to experiment with their powers as well. They're the ones wielding the powers; they're the only ones who can truly understand their abilities. When they experiment and try new things, they find their limits and gain experience. That, in turn, helps them maintain control. Studying what they can do will help absolutely no one." Batman finished, still giving the doctor one of his glares.

Evans, though, was not all that enthusiastic about the Dark Knight's bashing of his and his coworkers' idea of helping people. "And how would you know if these things would actually help anybody?"

"Because I've seen the strongest and most controlled superhumans go through the same thing. Would you like to ask them yourself?" Batman retorted quickly, his irritated glare growing dark as he gazed at the man.

The Dark Knight's response quieted Evans for the longest time before he shook his head. Knowing he had gotten his point across, the Dark Knight turned on his heel and began leaving the room. "I hope to see changes in the future, Doctor. Have a good day."

* * *

 **Well that was fun! As I said before, this will be the last JL chapter we will see for awhile now (though we might visit other DC characters such as Red Hood and the Outlaws.) The reason it ended up staring Batman was because this chapter is loosely based off a dream I had the other night. It was actually way darker than this (and I don't think this chap is all that dark anyways). The institute were bad people; they were trying to kill the main guy in my dream; the main guy actually hijacked one of the guards' truck as they were driving and killed the bad guys... Yeah, it was a mess and it restarted three times. I got to see the beginning of the dream (i.e. the main guy falling from the toppled over building) three times. It was great and it had a Maze Runner feel to the entire dream. XD**

 **Anyways, this chapter will be revisited in the future sometime, as will the first chapter. We will get to see more of the reality warping in the future. :D As for when the next chapter will be out, I dun know since I'm moving this weekend and it'll be my birthday. Great timing, right? I am, once again, getting jipped. (Repeat offenders, do you remember what happened last year? XD)**

 **Also, this is unedited. Just keep that in mind if you found any of my notorious typos. I'm so good at those. XD**

 **Thanks to these people for favoriting/following:** ** _DaniellePines, GodOfHeroes22, popcornbubbles77, Azorawing, yazmin 97, Cats are my World, Nytwyng._**

 **Guest Reviews:**

 **John: I've either never heard of those, seen their episodes, or haven't watched them since I was four. I cannot do any of those without some serious failure.**


	4. Light Manipulation

**Danny Phantom/Atlantis: The Lost Empire.**

* * *

Ch.4: Light Manipulation

Danny held his sizzling hand out in front of him, wincing as his palm blistered and burned. His legs were bent under him, pressing against the hard rock. His arms were pressed close to his sides while his hand continued to hover in the air in front of him, showing off his burns as his free-hand gripped his wrist tightly. His expression was morphed into horror at what he had done and pain from his blistering wounds.

Letting his blue eyes drift up, Danny saw the girl he had accidently attacked was being comforted and assured by people at the back of the circle that had closed in around him. The girl, someone he didn't know the name of, had her hands pressed over her eyes while tears slipped out from under them. She hadn't moved her hands from her eyes since Danny had accidently lashed out at her and not a word had come from her mouth. The white-haired girl only whined and moaned.

The crowd surrounding Danny all wore apprehensive or angry expressions. They were in a circle, keeping their distance but allowing no room for him to try and escape them. He could see his parents trying to reach him from one side and his sister attempting to slip in at another angle. However, they weren't getting anywhere and Danny was left alone to face the other commoners.

One of the healers of the city pushed past the people with a frown on her face, heading for the girl who had been attacked. Danny watched quietly from his spot as the woman shooed everyone away without any sympathy and talked to the girl, trying to coax her hands from her eyes. It took a bit of time and gentle words for the girl to finally respond, slowly lowering her hands from her face and eyes.

Instead of the violet eyes Danny had seen staring back at him before he'd released a spark, the orbs were milky and unseeing.

Gasps ran from the crowd and Danny felt his breath hitch in his throat. He knew immediately that it was him that had caused the girl's blindness. It had been all been an accident but it cost the girl dearly. There was no way he was going to be able to make it up and the other commoners seemed to realize this, turning their angry expressions towards his terrified one. No one seemed to realize he hadn't meant to do it, that it was all just one big accident.

Before anyone could even attempt to do anything to the ebony-haired boy, two voices rose above the crowd. The circle opened at one side, allowing the king and queen of Atlantis to quickly stride in with angry expressions of their own on their faces. The couple took a stance in front of Danny, who was absolutely amazed. Their eyes looked back and forth between the boy with the burned hand and the angry crowd, the girl still crying in the back.

"What is going on here?!" Queen Kida shouted over everyone, scanning the crowd for someone who would answer her question. She was taken back when everyone seemed eager to answer, yelling over top of each other to try and make their voices be heard. The mob even pushed and shoved each other, trying their hardest to reach the front of the crowds so they would be seen as well.

The queen's husband, King Milo, instantly hushed them as he yelled over the crowd, "Quiet down! We only need one person to answer!" The sandy-haired man pointed to one of the men in the front, his expression irritated. "Tell us what happened. You are the only one allowed to answer."

Thankfully, everyone was quiet as the man stepped forward, gave a quick bow to the royals, and began explaining, "It's a rather short story really. Everyone was working when there was a sudden flash of blue light. We all looked around before seeing the boy on the ground and the girl crying into her hands. From the look on his face, he had done something but no one is sure of what. We asked the girl but she hasn't spoken a word."

Danny knew that was the truth but not the complete one. The girl had been playfully teasing him about his abnormally colored hair and he had raised his hand to give a joking shove to push her away. However, instead of shoving her, a blue light had flashed from Danny's hand. The light had blinded the black-haired boy for only a few seconds but it seemed that, to the girl, it was going to be permanent.

And all of it happened because of the black hair he had been born with. Of course, all Atlantians were born with colored hair. It just faded to white around their first birthday. However, for Danny, his hair had stubbornly stayed as black as a raven's feathers. The first part of his life had been spent in worry that something was wrong him until he proved to be just as healthy as all the other children, even more-so in some cases. His hair was just a different color.

Maybe that was the reason the boy had liked the king so much. Milo's hair was the color of sand. However, up close, Danny could see that the color was starting to fade around the roots. No doubt the rest of the king's hair would soon follow until it perfectly matched that of the rest of the Atlantians' on their island. It was a surprise to see it change color, considering Milo had been part of the city for a few hundred years and his hair was only now changing color.

Danny frowned. Now he would be the only one on the island that had colored hair. That was just fantastic.

Queen Kida turned to the kneeled boy and looked him over with a scrutinizing gaze. Her husband did the same. They didn't seem to completely believe the story, though no one had a reason to lie and nothing else would explain the girl's blindness. Where would they get such a story anyways? It was unlike anything they had ever encountered and the two royals wondered what they were going to do about the problem that had spontaneously arisen.

Seeing the kid's burned hand, Milo sighed and bent down to the ebony-haired boy and let the Heart of Atlantis' healing powers flow into him. Danny watched his palm heal quietly before his head rose to meet his king's. The sandy-haired man looked at the younger quietly before quietly asking, "And what do you have to say on the entire ordeal?"

Some of the people in the crowd yelled that the boy would lie to get out of trouble but Kida quieted them with a stern look.

Danny only shrugged, looking back down to his hand as it quickly finished healing, letting go of his wrist and allowing circulation to flow into the newly-healed palm. He opened and closed them as Milo dropped his hands. "Well, I don't really know. It was an accident. I was just going to give her a small push because she was teasing me. I didn't know…whatever happened would happen."

Milo and Kida shared a look. They were still wondering what the blue light was, considering it sounded a lot like the light that shone from the Heart of Atlantis. However, it sounded like the boy had summoned the light himself, which couldn't be possible. None of the theories roaming in the couple's heads seemed likely, though.

Kida sighed and looked the boy over. Even though no one would dare lay a hand on him in front of her and her husband, his blue eyes still shone with slight terror. It probably wouldn't be too wise to continue the investigation in front of so many angry people. Until things could be settled, they would need to put the ebony-haired boy somewhere safe.

"Milo, take him to the palace for now." Kida said to her husband, gesturing for Danny to rise to his feet. Milo rose with him, gently putting a hand to the younger's elbow. The sandy-haired male didn't notice the boy's surprised look at the gesture before he began leading Danny through the crowd, acting as a shield so people wouldn't try to do anything to the Atlantian boy. After all, no one would dare defy one of the royals.

Kida turned to the crying girl and began using her crystal to try and restore the girl's eyesight.

As Milo and Danny began their journey towards the palace for the time being, three people rushed up to the king and the younger of the two blushed when his parents began begging to come so they watch their son, his sister sighing behind them. Milo, though surprised at first, quickly calmed them down. He assured them they'd be allowed to come along with their son and, once again, began leading them towards the palace while trying to make small talk. The two parents easily answered any of the king's questions while Danny chose to say nothing at all, keeping his gaze directed towards the ground. His sister joined his side, brushing his hand reassuringly.

When the group finally made it to the palace, Milo directed them towards the throne room, where they patiently waited for Kida while the adults continued to talk. Danny, by then, had gone off into his own little world, looking around the room with curious blue eyes.

Kida arrived shortly after them, smiling. Everyone turned to her with questions in their eyes. Keeping it short and sweet, the woman merely said, "The girl's eyesight was restored through the power of the Heart of Atlantis."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief but no one was happier than Danny, who grinned brightly as he looked down at the ground. He had begun fingering the edge of his robes nervously, knowing all the attention would now be focused on him with the girl fine.

As if his thoughts summoned the attention of the people in the room, everyone's gaze turned to the ebony-haired boy's place towards the back of the room. His bare foot brushed against the rock floor nervously as he studied the rocks under him. The teen-in-appearance kept his eyes adverted from everyone, not wanting to answer the questions that were about to spawn. However, Danny had to look up when his queen cleared her throat in a way to get his attention. Looking over at the woman, she gestured for him to come closer as she sat down on the ground. Her husband sat down beside her and Danny's family sat down off to the side but stayed close.

The ebony-haired boy walked closer and stopped a couple of feet from the royal couple before sitting down in a lotus position in front of them. Milo smiled at Danny before asking his name before they started. Danny provided them with his full name before telling them the nickname he preferred. They nodded at him before Kida asked, "Can you tell us what the 'blue light' was that the other people described?"

Danny sighed and shrugged in response, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Not really. Like I said before, I just wanted to shove her a little bit because she was teasing me. Before I could, the light everyone saw just kind of…appeared around my hand and shot outwards. It burned my hand, as you saw. After that, the light just disappeared without a trace."

"Do you have any idea what may have been the light's origin?" Kida asked, curiously tilting her head to the side with a frown.

The blue-eyed boy shook his head again, dropping his gaze to the floor between him and the two royals. After sighing, Danny answered, "No. Not a clue. It could've come from me or from behind me or… Like I said, I don't know. I wish I did to give you some answers but it just happened so fast. I hope that girl is ok though."

Kida smiled at his thoughtfulness and assured, "She is fine. She might be a little shaken up by the experience but she'll be back to normal soon."

Danny released a relieved sigh and smiled at the floor. He looked up when Milo asked a few more questions, intending to solve the mystery but the teen-in-appearance didn't have any information that would help him. The sandy-haired man didn't let the unhelpful answers bother him though. He'd find out what was going on soon enough.

When questioning Danny proved to be a fruitless endeavor, Kida had the family shown to some rooms in the palace. The couple was afraid that the two kids and two adults would be targeted if they left, despite the girl regaining her eyesight through the power of the crystal. So, to prevent any other misfortune, they decided to keep the four commoners in the palace until everything could be sorted out. It wasn't a problem for the loving couple anyways.

The rest of the day passed without an incident and soon the moon was high in the sky. Danny studied it from his window, pondering how long ago it had been since Atlantis finally had been raised to the surface world by his queen and king with the Spear of Destiny and the Heart of Atlantis. He didn't remember any of it, as he had been too young to retain the memory. As he did most often, he found himself wondering what it would have been like to stay in the depths of the ocean, though he knew it wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable as his life in the sun.

Sighing, Danny let his gaze drop to the ground outside his window and perked when he saw a cove not too far into the distance. It was mostly shielded by a rock overhang and plants growing around it but, from above, one got a good view of it. It looked peaceful, quiet, and relaxing. It looked like a place he wanted to be exploring at the moment.

The ebony-haired boy looked over his shoulder, looking over his shut door with an intense gaze. Though no one but his family had come in during the day, he still worried that someone else might want to see him for some unknown reason. It was an irrational fear; no one had come to visit him in hours. Besides, who'd want to see him in the middle of the night anyways?

Danny reached out of the window and grabbed a hold on the tree close by, eagerly crawling into its branches carefully. He tried to shake the leaves as little as possible as he climbed down, minimizing the noise that rattled through the still night air. Landing on the ground made a small _thump_ under his feet but the ebony-haired boy didn't worry about it much. No one was around to hear it and climbing the tree was the least of his worries. No, he had a feeling navigating his way to the small cove would be an adventure in itself.

As he predicted, getting to the cove was a rather hard task. It took him accidently tripping over a tree-root and rolling down a hill to find it. His irritation at his lack of navigation instantly melted away when he saw how big and beautiful the area was. The water looked refreshing and was perfectly still, creating a mirror on top of the pond that created perfect reflections.

It took a minute to get up from his spot but, once he had, Danny ventured into the cove and eagerly looked around, drinking in all the sights. The glow from the crystal resting against his chest and hanging from a piece of twine gave him enough light to see everything while maintaining an ethereal air around the cove. Danny found his breath being whisked away from him more than once.

Danny found a rock wall hidden behind hanging vines and lifted his hand to push them out of the way. As he was doing that, his hand lit up with a blue glow that looked exactly like the light from earlier, only much dimmer and not nearly hot enough to burn his skin again. Danny froze up when he saw it, eyes wide as he stared at the soft light apprehensively.

It was then he noticed the light around his hand, shining outwards to light the rock, was connected to a beam that ended at his crystal, still glowing softly against his robes and chest. Danny resolved he wasn't creating the light then, just somehow making it bend to his will… But how did someone do something like that in the first place?

The ebony-haired boy drew his hand back and the beam bent so the light continued to glow around his hand. Danny flipped his hand over and over again, waiting for the light to brighten into a beacon and blind himself like he had done to the girl. However, nothing of the sort happened and Danny found himself frowning, wondering if he could possibly control the beams even further.

It took a long time but Danny finally made the beam stop pointing towards his hand and just let it shine outwards and away from him. After doing that much, Danny did his best to try and make the beam bend at an odd angle, like one could do if they had a mirror. He found that hovering his hands over the beam and pretending to bend something that wasn't there worked best and he smiled when he managed to make a ninety-degree angle with the light.

Next, Danny cut the beam off by placing a hand directly in the beam's path. He drew his hand closer to his chest and began making the end of the beam into a ball disconnected from the light from his crystal. His way of manipulating the light, pretending it was clay in his hands, was efficient to getting it to respond to his will. Soon enough, he had a perfect sphere of blue light in his hand that looked like a tiny version of the Heart of Atlantis levitating in the sky above the island.

Danny laughed as he gingerly held the ball in his hands. He couldn't keep it stable for long however and the light soon slipped away from his control like sand through his fingers. This didn't deter Danny at all though. Finding out he could play with light like children played with toys was amazing and quite a thrill. He couldn't wait to test his abilities more.

The raven-haired twirled and spun around, his mirth echoing off the walls around him. His foot caught a small indent in the ground as he did, sending him sprawling to the ground. He grunted as his arms landed at the edges of the pond, getting his forearms wet as his fingers skimmed the surface. Instead of getting up and moving away from the drop off, Danny's blue eyes locked onto the water, a devilish grin creeping up the corners of his lips.

Getting up, Danny took the top layer of his robes off, leaving him in his trousers underneath. After kicking off his shoes, the boy eagerly raced into the water and sunk into the water, getting perfectly soaked to the bone. He came up quickly, took a deep breath, and fell under the surface again, swimming farther under the water so he could float a few feet from the surface.

His crystal drifted away from its resting place on his chest when he stopped but Danny didn't worry about it disappearing. The twine was secure around his throat and its glow ensured that it would always be in his sights.

The blue light shining from the crystal lit the black waters around him but its reach didn't make it very far. Danny stretched his arms in front of him and began repeating the process of forming a sphere of light in front of him, using the glow from the crystal tied around his neck to make it. As he molding it to perfection, he found concentrating on it harder made it shine brighter.

It didn't take long for Danny to create another sphere of blue light. The beams shinning out from the ball danced in the black waters, shifting and moving. Particles of foreign substances floated back and forth in the light-show. The plant life that was lit up drifted to and fro with the movements of the water. There was something magical in the way everything moved slowly as if time had slowed down with the light painting everything blue.

Part of Danny felt apprehensive by the ball of light suspended just above his palms. There was something unreal with the light and the way it stayed in the shape of a perfect ball. The glow seemed to be alive, swirling and brilliant while keeping its shape. One could easily get lost staring at its radiance, becoming trapped by the sight for all of eternity.

Lucky for the ebony-haired Atlantian, the light didn't keep its shape for nearly as long as forever and dissipated after some time. Danny's control over the sphere slipped through his fingers, once again. The Atlantian didn't feel too bad about it, though. He had to swim to the surface and breathe, after all, and he didn't think he would have the heart to banish the light suspended above his palms.

After getting a few big gulps of air from the surface, Danny dove back under the water and formed the ball in his hands again. The sight of the water black but bright was haunting and addicting. He felt like he had to see it over and over again. It was irrational but Danny didn't mind it in the least bit.

With each time that the Atlantian dove under the surface, he found it easier and easier to reform the ball in his hands. He also noticed that the time it stayed suspended above his hands began getting longer by just seconds. However, Danny took it as a sign that he was easily grasping control of this ability he had been granted. It was an amazing feeling.

Danny repeated the process of forming the sphere, watching it disappear, and getting air from the surface a countless amount of times. However, he didn't want to stop, which is why he kept going. The Atlantian didn't realize the time flying by until the sun began peeking over the horizon, which shocked him to his core.

Once he realized how long it had been, Danny rushed from the water and threw his robes on. Without stopping, the teen-in-appearance raced from the cove and back to the palace in the distance. The ebony-haired boy climbed up the tree once he was back and crawled in through his open window, panting as he stumbled into the room and fell to the ground.

Luckily for him, no one seemed to have entered during the night to check on him, which was a relief.

Turning onto his back, Danny lifted his crystal off of his chest and smiled as he studied the blue glow surrounding it. His memory began lapsing into the night before and he soon became lost in the haunting memories of the light cutting through the dark.

Closing his eyes, Danny continued to walk through his memory as he laid his hand and crystal on his chest again. Within minutes, he was peacefully asleep on the ground, a wide smile gracing his face as the sunlight entered his room through the open window and spread a sheet of yellow-tinted light across his slumbering form.

* * *

 **Yippee! The move is over and I finally got wifi back last Thursday! (I was without wifi for a week; image the pain.) The Verizon guy also found a snake in our house, which was hysterical. The thing was tiny and the guy and my sisters are freaking out. Me, I just lounged on the couch and watched them flip out. Good times. XD**

 **On another note, ATLANTIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES _EVER_! It's so great and there's so many opportunities for head-cannons! Like how I like to believe Atlantians are born with different colored hair before it changes to white around their first birthday (image the uproar that could have transpired when Danny's hair never changed). It's one of my personal favorites and can be sort-of supported by the fact there were no newborns in the movie. There might've seen some infants but considering that an Atlantian's lifespan can be hundreds to thousands of years, I doubt any were newborns.**

 **Another head-cannon I mentioned in the chapter: Milo's hair had started turning white and I mentioned he'd been with the Atlantians for a few hundred years. I like to believe Milo was accepted by the Heart of Atlantis as a true Atlantian and, therefore, his appearance changes eventually to look more like them and that he ages like them as well, which is very slow. This gift, however, did not transfer over to his friends (Sweet, Aubrey, Mole, etc.) and they died many years before, despite wearing crystals. *thumbs-up***

 **Hope you enjoyed and sorry for the long A/N! I needed to explain those things, however, so bear with me! ^^**

 **Thanks to these people for favoriting/following:** ** _Tsukiyo kitsune, jaguarspot, Expergiscimini, Dragonchick101, KuriMaster13, MiaulinK, LunagaleMaster, Toffee Fox, GrayAngel564, unknownMagicalBeast, Nega20._**

 **Guest Reviews:**

 **John: Really? I'm the only one? That's sad. XD**


	5. Activation - Deactivation

**Danny Phantom/Invader Zim.**

* * *

Ch.5: Activation/Deactivation

Standing in front of his new school, Danny blinked up at it unbelieving. The twelve-year-old's blue eyes stared but didn't seem to see anything. Only when a hand was laid on his shoulder did the preteen look up at his guardian unbelievingly. Pointing to the building, Danny asked "You're kidding me, right? You're kidding me."

Vlad sighed, an irritated expression on his face. His face was stuck in one of his not-kidding moods and it didn't seem like it would be lifted anytime soon. A sigh escaped his lips before he responded, "No. I am not kidding. This is the only middle school in the city. When I moved here, I didn't expect to be taking on any children, even temporarily."

Danny's blue eyes continued staring at Vlad expectantly, as if waiting for the white-haired man to admit it was all a big joke. However, the expression on the older's face never changed.

"Y-You're not kidding?" Danny asked. His unbelieving expression only deepened.

The billionaire glared down at the smaller figure, not amused by his reaction in the least. His hand strayed from the younger's shoulder and conjoined with his other one, clasping them behind his back in a professional manner. "Didn't I just say that I wasn't playing a joke?"

"Well, yeah, but… Are you _seriously serious_?"

"Yes. I can't get any more serious than I am right now."

The preteen stood absolutely still for a moment, quiet and staring off into the distance. Then, a small giggle escaped his lips. It turned into quiet chuckles before they slowly rose in volume. It wasn't long before there were tears streaming down Danny's face as he held one hand over his face, the other wrapped around his middle as he doubled over. People looked over his way, gazing at the hysterical preteen with confusion as the boy doubled over.

Vlad released another sigh at the explosion of hysterical laughter, rolling his eyes. His mild irritation grew as Danny grabbed the front of his shirt, burying his face in his uncle's torso and staining his nice white dress shirt with his tears of laughter. To further convey his amusement, Danny shook the man back and forth a little, only making Vlad simmer irritably in his spot.

Still laughing his head off, Danny sputtered, "Oh-oh, this city is _great_! They've got no official name so whenever anyone asks, you have to say you're from _The City_ , which makes no sense! And it's full of whack-jobs, weirdoes, and geniuses! And despite the fact quite a few people have money, the geniuses _still_ send their kids to a place where they spell school _wrong on the sign_!" Tears still slipping from his eyes, Danny began sliding towards the concrete under him while giggling incessantly. "I can't breathe; I'm dying! It's too much! Tell my parents I love them!"

The billionaire rubbed his head as Danny continued to cackle madly on the ground. The preteen looked like an overturned turtle with the way he kicked his feet in the air and rocked back and forth to ease his fit of laughter. His face was flushed red, making him look a tad on the drunken side.

Looking at his watch, Vlad mused, "If we do not get you registered in the next twenty-minutes, you're going to miss part of your first day of school. Are you trying to fall behind?"

"How can I- ha-ha! –fall behind?! Hehe- They can't even spell 'school' correctly! I could say dogs are psychic and I'd be hailed a genius!" Danny exclaimed through his mirth. He wheezed when Vlad nudged him in the side with his foot, silently telling him to get up and move. Finally calming, the preteen rolled onto his hands and knees before getting up and smiling widely at the older male. Danny cheerily announced, "Alright! I'm good now!"

Vlad nodded before moving forward, walking down the sidewalk to the large building. Danny followed behind him, snickering into his sleeve as he looked up at the large sign that said 'Skool' on it. The white-haired male shot a look over his shoulder, silently asking if Danny was going to fall into another one of his giggle-fits. The preteen answered by smiling brightly and shaking his head. Vlad raised an eyebrow, shook his head, and looked forward, hiding the small smile that had grown.

Danny stayed quiet while walking behind his temporary guardian, a beaming smile still playing on his lips. His cheeks were still a rosy red from laughing. His blue eyes were bright with amusement as he looked at the back of his guardian. The tips of his raven hair were starting to protrude into his vision but he didn't want to cut it quite yet. All in all, he looked like an average kid.

So it was a wonder how he got into the custody of the billionaire, considering Vlad hadn't had many partners in his years. There were a lot of speculations that Danny and his sister, Jazz, were the product of some secret lover before Vlad, not amused, killed them brutally by explaining to the press that the two siblings were his friend's children and his godchildren. The two parents, Jack and Madeleine Fenton, both scientists, were off on an expedition with a bunch of colleagues and couldn't take the two with them for obvious reasons.

Most people thought the two children would be sad to see their parents off. Of course, they _were_ but it was also typical. Jack and Maddie were workaholics and, though they loved their kids very much, they also loved their research, which led them to be distracted a lot of the time. Sometimes, it seemed to the kids, that Vlad paid more attention to them, though his visits had been few and far between. Now the kids were staying with him for six months.

Jazz and Danny had agreed on something within the first couple of nights; Vlad, though a workaholic in his own way from being lonely so many years, knew when to put everything away and just relax.

Danny followed his guardian up the steps to the school and into the office. He stayed silent as Vlad quickly got all the parents signed without a problem. Afterwards, Danny was quickly given a schedule and nudged off towards class. He said a goodbye to Vlad over his shoulder before getting absorbed in what he had to do that day. Danny was confident everything would be a breeze for him. Though making friends with the strange kids in his class might be another ball-game entirely…

Danny quickly found himself standing in the doorway of Ms. Bitters' classroom, looking at the tall, slender woman with obvious fear. She gestured for him to enter, read over the note from the office Danny had, and quickly introduced him to the rest of the class. Smiling nervously, the ebony-haired boy waved to everyone, expecting someone to respond with a smile or maybe a wave in return.

But nope, everyone just stared at him with intense eyes. It didn't even look like anyone was blinking.

Dropping him hand from the air, Danny anxiously put it to the back of his neck and rubbed it nervously. He wasn't quite sure what the heck was wrong with the kids (seriously, were they _zombies_ or something?!) but it was unnerving. Danny figured he himself hadn't been kidding when he said the town was filled with whack-jobs and weirdoes and their kids…

"You can sit there." Ms. Bitters said, pointing to one of the desks in the front row. Danny scurried away from her hurriedly, taking his seat and slinking down into it. None of the kids seemed to care that he was new, staring off into space or drawing doodles on their paper.

Danny's blue eyes found the kid sitting next to him. He raised an eyebrow at his green skin, wondering if it was some kind of skin disease. The boy's eyes were incredibly wide and he had square irises; something Danny didn't think was naturally possible. The kid wore a bright red tunic with a pink collar and sleeves. He also had black pants, boots, and gloves. His ebony hair was spiked, pointed backwards to the kid behind him.

The preteen almost bent over to engage with the boy, thinking he may not be so bad, but Ms. Bitters seemed to be staring at him and Danny shrunk in his seat. He stayed quiet throughout the entire class, finding himself completely horrified by some of the things she taught the class. The ebony-haired student peeked over his shoulder to look at the other kids but they were bored, as if this was normal.

Slipping further into his seat, Danny wondered what kind of school Vlad had sent him to.

Furthermore, it seemed the kid sitting next to him and the other student on the other side of the green-skinned boy, another boy with equally-as-spiky black hair had it out for each other. They shot glares throughout the entire class, trying to grate the other's nerves worse than their rival. No one else seemed to care or notice though.

The two were called out occasionally, though, for minor things. Making faces, gesturing demented things to each other, other rivalry things along those lines. It was how Danny learned their names were Zim and Dib. The blue-eyed preteen wondered why the two's mothers hated them so much as to give them such odd names that would follow them out throughout their entire lives. Who would take them seriously?

The terrible lessons continued, as well as the glaring of rivals and the bored stares of onlookers. As the new kid, Danny was the only one disturbed by the entire thing. He wondered if maybe he should just go hide in the bathroom for the remainder of the day but found out there were only two hall-passes from some other kid that asked; one pass was a collar that would explode if someone tried to leave the school premises and the other was an old heater that had the words 'hall-pass' spray-painted in green on the side.

After seeing that, Danny hid his head in his hands and mouthed a long, silent scream before he turned his eyes to the clock, wondering why he hadn't changed classes at all since getting to the school. His eyes almost bugged out of his head when he realized he'd been there for an hour and a half. Danny grabbed his schedule and looked it over, his mouth falling open yet again when he saw all his classes were with Ms. Bitters.

What?! Was she the only seventh grade teacher in the entire school or something?!

"Is everything alright?"

Danny jumped and warily looked up at his glaring teacher. Her scratchy voice was dripping with malice and the preteen thought he might turn to stone under the gaze. When he didn't, Danny chuckled nervously and gave a slight shrug. "Y-Yeah! Of course! What are you talking about? Everything's fine and dandy and fun times, yo…"

The preteen could feel everyone's gaze on him and wondered how _he_ was the strange kid in all of this.

The teacher didn't reply as she narrowed her eyes before creeping back to the blackboard, continuing her horrifying lesson. People began drifting back into their own thoughts; the only two that continued to give Danny the time of day were Zim and Dib, which wasn't all that comforting, considering the act the two were putting on for the entire class.

Falling deeper in his seat, Danny tried to make himself as small as possible as he waited impatiently for lunch to come around. Time seemed to tick by slowly though, mocking him while he continued to hide himself in his seat. Prayers were recited in Danny's head, hoping it would suddenly make the time jump forward to the lunch hour. The wait was steadily slow though.

When lunch finally came around, the ebony-haired boy happily hopped out of his seat, gathered his things, and escaped from the room without a second thought. The only problem with his plan was that he wasn't sure where the cafeteria was and had to wait for the other students to herd in that direction to figure out his way.

Danny ate his lunch alone, watching all the people with a slight tinge of fear. They were eating the school's lunch and it, honest to God, looked like it was still alive and moving. It was a miracle in itself that Danny didn't scream (or puke) the first time he thought he saw one of the kid's…slop…blink at him. He had shuddered violently though.

Lunch went by much quicker than Danny wanted it to (despite all the terrible things surrounding him) and, in a desperate attempt to figure out a way to get out of school, the preteen put his hand to the light-switch on his way out the door. Danny didn't press down hard on it or flip the tiny lever; he simply tapped on the front of it.

All the lights and all the electronics plugged into the school's walls suddenly powered off, leaving the scarce faculty and abundance of kids in the dark.

There was an uproar immediately following the power-outage, allowing for Danny to slip away in the confusion without being noticed. No one would think twice about the new kid, considering he was still largely unknown to most of the occupants anyways and something new could be slipped from one's thoughts without much prodding. It was a glorious victory for Danny.

Too bad he didn't notice that one person, a kid with weird green skin, had noticed his actions before everything suddenly went dark.

Danny, with much trial and error, found the bathroom and slipped inside, taking his phone out of his pocket. He searched through his contacts quickly, finally coming to the name he wanted. He pressed dial and held the phone to his ear, nervously rubbing the back of his neck as he waited for the older male to pick up. After three rings, there was a greeting but, halfway through it, Danny interrupted, saying, "Get me out of here!"

" _Excuse me?_ "

"You heard me, Vlad!" Danny said, pointing at the air in front of him, as if his guardian was standing in front of him. "Get me out of this place! It's terrifying! I can already tell; they built this school on an ancient burial ground and the spirits of the people are not happy. They've warped everyone's minds! The teachers are teaching funky, German needle-torture stuff! The other kids are quirky beyond the norm and they think _I'm_ the weird one! Get me out of here, Vlad, please!"

There was an exasperated sigh on the other end of the line. " _Are you hearing yourself right now?_ "

"Yes! I sound perfectly reasonable!"

" _…this isn't funny, Daniel._ "

"Good cause I'm not joking!"

Danny's head jerked up when the power suddenly came back on. A small curse left his lips as he looked around the room, searching for another light-switch. Once one was found, he walked over to it, tapping it again as he listened to Vlad drone on about him needing to go back to class, to stop playing around, and leave him to his work. Danny, once again, interrupted the older man. "But I'm being completely serious, Vlad~! This school is creepy! Can I be homeschooled?"

" _No._ "

"Please~!"

" _No. You need to socialize._ "

The lights came back on and Danny glared at the lights that were, once again, on without his permission. He couldn't believe the people in the school could even work the electricity without professional help and, promptly, tapped the light-switch again, leaving him in perpetual darkness, if it weren't for his phone glowing against his face.

"I have friends! Sam, Tucker, and I Skype every night!"

" _As wonderful as they are, you need more than them._ "

"I do not!"

Once again, the lights came back on suddenly and Danny found himself glaring at them. While smirking smugly at the lights, he put his index finger to the light-switch again and smirked when they turned off again. Keeping his finger pressed to the switch, Danny mumbled, "Turn them on now, fools!"

" _What was that?_ "

"What was what? Vlad, I think you're hearing things." Danny instantly waved off, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, can we get back to our-"

" _Are you using your powers?_ "

"Of course not, Vladdie! You told me not to!"

Danny could _feel_ the glower the older male was giving him through the phone. The preteen was torn between feeling scared and laughing. He finally settled on trying to continue his escape plan from his school, saying, "Ok, can we get back on point here? Yeah, my teacher is a witch, my classmates are crazy, and this town is officially terrifying. Please-"

The ebony-haired boy stopped when he heard the dial-tone ringing in his ear. Completely miffed, Danny glared at the phone before mumbling, "That bastard…"

There was a _ding_ and a text popped up on the preteen's screen. The contact name was 'Fruit-Loop' and, under that, it said:  No cursing.

The blue-eyed male threw his arms in the arm, not at all surprised his guardian would know when he was doing or saying something he shouldn't. Sighing, Danny dropped both of his hands to his side and growled in the dark. Calming down, Danny tapped the light-switch again, allowing the lights to come back on as he slipped out of the bathroom and hustled back to his classroom. However, seeing as no one was in the room when he arrived, Danny stayed out in the hallway until the other kids herded into the room for the rest of their classes.

Once again, Danny found himself praying that the rest of the day would either go by fast or not be _nearly_ as weird as the first half of his day. Of course, it seemed the forces of the universe liked to screw with him and Danny wondered how none of the other students were in the least bit terrified of the things the teacher so casually went over. Were they being trained to become psychopaths or something?!

Thankfully, class did let out eventually and Ms. Bitters didn't try to stop the kids as they filed out. Danny was the quickest, yet again, as he scurried from the room. He was moving down the hall, past the other kids when he heard it. A loud voice called "You! Danny! Stop!"

Danny did as he was told and turned around, trying to find the person who had called him. His blue eyes widened slightly in surprise when he saw the kid who had sat next to him, Zim, approaching him quickly while walking as if he was the greatest gift God had given to the earth. Danny just continued to stare as the other preteen stopped beside him, looking him up and down expectantly.

"Uh, hi." Danny started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he looked the other up and down as well. "So… Uh… You're Zim, right? We sit next to each other in class."

"Yes. I am aware." Zim responded just as loudly as before as if he didn't realize the person he had sought out was standing beside him.

The ebony-haired boy hadn't realized anyone knew he was in the school. Ever since that morning, no one had looked at him twice throughout the entire day. Frankly, with the strangeness of the school and the weird way the other students stared at him, he was ok with being ignored.

Standing in the hallway awkwardly, Danny waited for Zim to mention why he had been flagged down in the first place. For a little while, the two boys stayed standing in the hallway silently, ignoring the other preteens moving around them and out the door. When it seemed as if he had been flagged down for nothing more than that tiny snippet of a conversation, Danny turned around and said, "Ok, well then, I'll see you tomorrow, Zim. Bye."

"WAIT!"

Danny swore he jumped a couple feet in the air from the unexpected, loud response he got out of the other boy. Turning abruptly back around, the ebony-haired boy asked, "What?!"

Zim looked like a deer in the headlights before he quickly masked the expression with another one of his haughty looks, clearing his throat. Standing as if were the general of an army, Zim asked, "Would you please come over to my home so we may hang out?"

Raising an eyebrow, Danny gave the other boy a questioning gaze. He hadn't been acknowledged at all that day so what had brought on the sudden urge to face the new student? And why did Zim say 'hang out' as if it were a foreign concept to him? Nothing was making sense and Danny was sure his head would start spinning sometime soon.

Shaking his head, Danny opened his mouth to reply that he didn't it was such a good idea before his and his guardian's conversation earlier conversation popped in his head suggestively. He thought over the idea and remembered that some kids were more…eccentric…at first glance than they actually were. Typically, it was nervousness that did it but, once the other had relaxed around you, all their quirks settled down into something manageable.

Hopefully, Zim was one of those kids.

Smiling and shrugging, Danny replied, "Why not? Let me call my uncle first, though. He's supposed to pick me up in twenty minutes and I don't think he'd appreciate it if he showed up and I was nowhere in sight without an explanation." _Especially after that breakdown I had at lunch…_

Zim smirked deviously and rubbed his hands together in the typical villain gesture. A small cackle escaped through his lips as he mumbled, "Perfect… Perfect!"

Rubbing the back of his neck nervously again, Danny muttered another 'uh' as he stared at the other kid with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, Zim, what's 'perfect?'"

"NOTHING!"

Danny winced again at the abrupt yell and wondered if the other boy did it often. It was rather annoying and the preteen almost had a heart attack each time Zim suddenly exclaimed. However, for now, he'd just have to brush it off.

The ebony-haired boy smiled weakly at Zim while nodding before telling the green-skinned boy that he'd be back in a moment. Moving off to the side, Danny took out his phone again and called Vlad. The older male picked up, half-expecting another explosion of complaints, but Danny just said that someone had invited him to their house and he had said he'd go. Vlad, completely in shock at the turn of events, only mumbled that he understood and to be back at the penthouse by six-thirty. Danny agreed before hanging up, leaving Vlad sitting in his office, staring at a wall blankly.

Still smiling nervously, Danny walked out from his spot and joined Zim in the hallway again. He dropped his phone back in his pocket. "Alright, my uncle knows. Should we head out?"

"Yes." Zim stated bluntly as he marched for the front doors, not noticing the way Danny watched him for a moment before stumbling after him abruptly. Once again, the blue-eyed preteen joined Zim's side and walked beside him awkwardly. The two walked out the doors, down the steps, and turned down one of the streets. The two were completely silent.

The new student tried sparking a conversation with Zim multiple times but the green-skinned boy only gave monosyllable answers, seemingly enveloped in his thoughts. Danny was rather unnerved by the devious look that would overcome Zim's face occasionally, not used to such an evil expression. It was that look that made Danny regret following Zim home.

After a long walk home, the two preteens came upon a tiny house lodged between two larger houses. The color of the paint, a greenish-blue color, and the pointed roof with purple shingles made Danny raise an eyebrow. The giant satellite-thing sitting on the roof and the tubes connecting the small house to its neighbors was even stranger. The green lawn was spotted with a large amount of lawn gnomes and a flag that said 'I Heart Earth.' Standing beside the door were two puffer-fish creatures on sticks, appearing to stand guard in front of the entrance.

Danny looked around the rest of the cul-de-sac to see if anyone else thought the house looked rather strange but no one was phased. Then again, the entire town seemed to be the definition of strange so one abnormal house probably wouldn't even make it on their radars.

As they approached, something plastered itself against one of the windows and Danny screamed when he saw it was a robot-thing with bulging blue eyes and skinny arms and legs. There was a giant smile splitting his face in half and a high-pitched voice spouted incomprehensible things into the pane of glass.

The preteen was shock-still while Zim gasped in horror before rushing into his house, slamming the door behind him. The happy-go-lucky robot was torn from the window and Danny stayed frozen in his spot, listening as there were dozens of crashes inside, as well as irritated yells and squeaky replies, before Zim reopened the door, completely composed. The self-absorbed air around him hadn't vanished at all and he confidently asked, "Would you like to come inside now?"

"What the freak was that?!" Danny screamed hysterically, pointing to where the bug-eyed robot had practically glued itself to the window and yelled nonsense happily.

"That was but a minor nescience. It is taken care of." Zim explained, hardly aware of the way Danny was sputtering in confusion before his eyes widened in terror. It sounded like Zim had killed someone! However, the green-skinned boy didn't even seem to care as he turned and waved for Danny to follow him inside, saying, "Come now. We have many things to discuss."

Danny watched after him for a moment, still sputtering confusedly. Once he had regained enough sense, his jaw shut with a _snap_ and he trudged after his classmate, wondering what it was that they had to 'discuss.' It's not like they had talked at all that day before Zim had suddenly approached him in the school's hallway, not even a full hour beforehand.

Walking inside, Danny closed the door behind him, slipped his shoes off, and turned around, only to scream again. Zim looked at him curiously while Danny just stared at the mongoose-dog-thing running around the room on its hind legs, front legs waving in the air. It gleefully had its tongue hanging out of its mouth. It also had green skin, like its master, and its black ears stayed permanently suspended in the air.

…and was that a _zipper_ running up its chest?

When Danny thought the sight couldn't possibly get any weirder, the dog-mongoose- _thing_ ran to him, jumped up and down in front of the preteen, and cheerfully asked, "Do you like tacos?"

Like any normal human being, Danny froze and stared at the freaky hybrid creature in front of him with the most shocked expression he'd ever had. After all, the thing in front of him should not be able to speak. It was an animal (he hoped it was, anyways) and animals didn't have speaking capabilities.

"Do ya do ya do ya do ya?"

"GIR! STOP TALKING TO THE HUMAN!" Zim yelled harshly, waving his hands around quickly while he yelled.

On the verge of near hysteria, Danny looked between the green-skinned kid (though the preteen was beginning to wonder if that was even true) and the happy-go-lucky whatever-it-was in front of him. His mind wondered what the heck was up with the derogatory term Zim had called him?! Ok, more importantly, what the heck was going on to begin with?!

"What the hell is wrong with your dog?!" Danny yelled, looking down at the thing while it continued to look up at him gleefully. The crazy creature was still asking random and completely off-topic questions while also making amazingly stupid observations, such as Danny's jacket was the color red and that "Gir" really liked red.

"GIR! GO MAKE WAFFLES!" Zim yelled again, pointing in the general direction of, what Danny assumed was, the kitchen.

Immediately, the green-skinned dog (Danny really hoped it was just a diseased dog with the magical ability to talk a mile a minute) brightened and cheered. Without a second thought, the creature turned and ran in the direction Zim had pointed, shouting, "Waffles! I love waffles! They're so gooooood~!"

That left Danny shaking by the door and Zim, irritated beyond belief, standing off to the side by the couch.

As if was the scene had been the most normal thing in the world (and it wasn't too much of a stretch that it was), Zim shook himself of his irritation and pointed to the perpetually freaked preteen standing in his foyer. "You! Danny! Follow!"

Zim strode confidently from the room and in the direction the little creature, Gir, had disappeared to. Danny watched him stalk away while not moving a centimeter from his spot. The ebony-haired preteen was half-expecting more chaos to erupt and scar him further. However, when he noticed his guest wasn't following, Zim stuck his head back in and casually asked, "You coming?"

Stiffly, Danny left his spot and shuffled after Zim, hoping that staying near the green-skinned person would save him from dealing with more craziness.

The two classmates went to the kitchen and took seats around the circular, white table sitting in the middle of the room. The two stayed silent for the longest time. Danny shifted nervously in his seat, looking over the table at Zim, who had taken to glaring at him while also wearing an evil smirk. It was rather unnerving and Danny almost asked him to stop it.

"So… Why did you invite me over?" Danny asked, reaching back with his hand to rub the back of his neck again. He tried to smile but he had a feeling it turned out to be a grimace instead.

Not so surprisingly, the calm air that had slowly gathered around the two was thrown out the windows when Zim zipped onto the table, pointing at Danny and yelling, "I WANT YOUR POWER~!"

Danny jerked back in his seat and flattened his back against the chair behind him. He stared at the finger Zim was accusingly pointing at him before letting his blue eyes up to stare at Zim's square irises. Confused, the anxious and hysterical preteen stuttered, "M-My what now?"

"Don't you play dumb with me, you pathetic human being! I saw you today during school! You touched the magical light-switch and all the lighting turned off! How did someone like you come across and figure out a way to wield this great and mighty power?!" Zim yelled overdramatically, still pointing at him and keeping Danny planted in his seat.

Oh… So that's what he was talking about.

Having been through many similar interrogations before, Danny gave his peer a deadpan look. "Uh, dude… It's a light switch. Turning things on and off is kind of what they do."

"LIES!" Zim screamed, making Danny wince at the terrible volume his voice had taken to. "I know what I saw! Now tell me where I can obtain this power!"

"Um, dude…" Danny started, blinking up at the other casually. "Yeah, there's a problem with that plan. I've always just had them; I didn't have them bestowed on me and I didn't find them ingrained in me from some object that I don't have. So, really, I can't help you get them. Sorry but that's just not how it works."

Zim, once again, screamed "LIES!"

The preteen wanted to facepalm but resisted the urge. Danny began thinking of ways to leave the house so he could go home while teasingly saying, "You're right. I was lying. My powers were given to me by something in this _very_ house. You know that big machine in your evil lair? The _really_ big one? Yeah, it was that thing that gave me my powers. It liked me because I had special ninja abilities that allowed me to get into the house in the first place."

Much to Danny's complete shock (though, by this point, he really shouldn't have been), Zim began laughing evilly at the reveal of Danny's power and raced off. The blue-eyed boy was left, slack-jawed, at the table as he watched the green-skinned kid run off, supposedly to go to whatever machine Danny had been talking about. Zim didn't even seem phased that Danny had apparently been in his house before.

Danny hid his face in his hands and moaned, "I was _joking_!"

"Want some waffles?"

The preteen found himself screaming again, jerking back away from the dog-mongoose-creature standing before him with a plate of waffles in its hands. They were drenched in syrup and butter but, under all that, the color was slightly off from what it should have been. Danny doubted some of the ingredients used were edible.

"Uh…" Danny muttered, looking between the plate and the creepy thing holding on to it. He reached out and poked the creature's green head, pulling his finger away at the last moment as if he had been burned.

Something metallic was under the guise of the dog, though he figured he should've figured it out by the zipper running up the freak's chest. And Danny had a feeling that, under the thin green costume, was the robot that had plastered itself to the window at his arrival.

"Well do ya~?" The creature, Danny suddenly remembered it being called Gir, asked, sweetly tilting its head to the side as it stared up at him with its unfocused eyes.

Now aware of what he was dealing with, Danny placed his index finger back on Gir's head and willed for the robot to deactivate and collapse to the floor. However, Gir continued to hold out the plate of waffles expectantly with its cute expression. It wouldn't respond to his mental calls.

So, either the thin costume was obstructing his powers or the robot was just so jacked up that it was far beyond help.

…Danny was willing to bet it was the latter.

Bouncing in his spot, Gir asked, "Well, do ya do ya do ya~?"

"Uh, no thanks. I'm not-"

The preteen had no time to finish his sentence as the little robot dropped the plate and began wailing pathetically. He flailed around in all directions, rolled on the ground, convulsed on the table, and began overflowing the room with its tears (how that was even possible was beyond Danny since robots _didn't have_ _tear-ducts_ ). It was a pathetic sight and the preteen could only watch with shocked, blue eyes.

"I've got to get out of here…"

Getting up from the table, Danny sprinted back to the front door as he heard Zim's outraged scream at finding out Danny had been lying, seemingly coming from under the floor. To save himself some time, Danny tapped one of the light-switches on his way out and was thrilled as all the electricity in the house powered off. The only thing still working was Gir, who continued to wail hysterically in the kitchen over Danny not eating his inedible waffles.

Quickly after the power-outage, Zim screamed in total fury and demanded that the electricity be powered back on. He also called for Gir's help but the robot had passed out on the kitchen table.

Danny didn't stick around and slammed the door open, running out of the house as he screamed. He ran past the gnomes, through the fence opening, and down the middle of the street. People looked his way as he passed, shrieking hysterically, but no one seemed to be too phased by the show and went back to whatever it was that they had been previously doing.

The preteen ran all the way back to his temporary home, barely missing from getting hit by a few cars along the way. Danny didn't seem to care and stormed into the apartment building as fast as he could, riding the elevator up to the penthouse while he doubled over, trying to regain the breath he had lost during his run.

Once the elevator doors had opened, Danny sped out quickly and raced around the penthouse, calling Vlad's name. He was answered in the direction of the kitchen and zoomed after the voice, barreling into his guardian's back and wrapping his arms around the man's. "Vlad, you can't send me back to school! That kid, Zim, that invited me over is a total freak and he's got this weird robot-dog thing and he wanted- AH!"

The preteen's blue eyes widened as he found himself staring into Dib's face, who had ripped him from Vlad's waist and was now invading his personal space. The spiky-haired boy quickly asked, "You were in _Zim's_ house?!"

Danny's head bobbed and down as the adults, Vlad and what looked like Dib's father, pulled the two boys away from each other. Both guardians took their respected children and held their arms, keeping the two by their sides. Dib's father was reprimanding the boy for practically tackling Danny and Vlad was questioning Danny on his hysterical expression.

The ebony-haired boy was about to answer when he heard Dib yell, "But Dad, Zim is _an alien_! I'm telling you!"

That did it.

Danny screamed again and zoomed from the room, quickly slapping his hand on the light-switch as he sped from the room. The penthouse, as well as the entire hotel, was quickly powered off, leaving everyone in darkness as the preteen continued to panic.

"What?! What happened?!"

"DANIEL, FIX THE ELECTRICITY!"

There was the sounds of a door slamming and Vlad sighed, wondering how he was going to get the younger out of the panic room.

* * *

 **Danny's talent can be limited to only the thing he touched being turned off/on but, in this case, he doesn't really care and needs the cover of dark to escape. XD**

 **I bet my repeat offenders are like, "What? It took Kodi this long to write _this_?" And to those people, I say, "SHUT UP! I GOT DISTRACTED TEN BILLION TIMES!" XD On a completely unrelated note, Invader Zim was requested by _nightmaster000._ It was one of the few fandoms he requested that I knew and liked. Figures, right? XD**

 **And that brings me to my next topic: yes, I do take power/fandom requests, for those who were wondering (and didn't catch on after ch.2). The catch: I have to know the fandom and please, be specific about the specific talent you're referring to. Or, at least, give me a name to the power so I can look it up on the power-listing site I found.**

 **With that said, hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you ever find yourself in Zim's world, don't freak out like Danny did! :D And happy early Halloween!**

 **Thanks to these people for favoriting/following:** ** _avalyn sparks, Azorawing, trixangel103, TateRobinson35._**

 **Guest Reviews:**

 **Secretwhovianpon: ^^ I'm glad you liked it! And I'm happy you agree with me! I'm surprised it wasn't nearly as popular as it should have been. *shrugs* Oh well, though. And I'm glad you liked my head-cannons. They were fun to make up. Haha! And yeah, Milo would be all over the new technology. XD**


	6. Subliminal Messaging - Sub Seduction

**Danny Phantom/X-Men: Evolution.**

* * *

Ch.6: Subliminal Messaging/Subliminal Seduction

Logan wanted to facepalm so hard as he rubbed his head. The students around him were smartly keeping their mouths shut. After all, no one wanted to tick off the already irritated Wolverine.

The mission the small group of junior X-Men was sent on was already spiraling out of control. The club was in full swing with people trying to hook up for one night stands and others drinking away their sanity. It wasn't everyone, of course; some were there for a good time with friends. There were even other kids dancing around, some being even a little younger than the junior X-Men. However, drunks didn't know the difference between a hot date and someone too young for them.

To make matters worse, the new recruit they were supposed to be trying to get to was a lot older than they originally thought she was going to be. After all, mutants' powers were typically awaken in early adolescence, _not_ in their early twenties. They had brought along the younger X-Men because they were led to believe the girl, Ember, was younger.

This info was wrong.

The girl with blue hair and vibrant green eyes was practically the life of the partner. Her violet lips were forever turned into an excited smile and her spiraling makeup never smeared, no matter how much she danced and sweated among the masses. Her tight, black clothes showed off quite a bit of skin, creating an edgy air around her, and her grey boots were easy to walk in. She was continually switching between dancing away in the crowd and rocking out on her guitar beside the DJ stand.

As of the moment, Ember was swaying to the loud hip-hop music blaring over the speakers and making Logan's sensitive ears ring. The man's eyes were set in a glare that was locked onto the girl but she didn't notice, too wrapped up in the middle of the party to care. Logan could see a bunch of the drunken males, even a couple of girls, checking the rocker girl out but she had eyes only for a man with a green mohawk sitting at a bar and he didn't even notice the blue-haired girl.

Logan felt himself growl in the back of his throat again. The whole point of bringing Amara, Jaime, Bobby, Jubilee, and Rahne (the other two boys had gotten in trouble, resulting in being grounded) along was to help the new mutant connect to other people like her around her age. But now that they knew she was a lot older than what they were led to believe, Logan wished he had brought along some of the older X-Men like he had first wanted to do. After all, why would a twenty-something even look twice at a bunch of young teenagers, the oldest of whom was sixteen?

"What do we do now, Logan?" Jaime asked, bending closer to the black-haired adult so he could be heard over the obnoxiously loud music. The fourteen-year-old's lips were turned into a frown in worry of failing, though no one would blame the young boy for the mission's failure. None of the new mutants would be at fault for inaccurate information.

The elected leader of the group shrugged at the much younger mutants, not sure how to improvise this time around. Logan let out an irritated sigh as his eyes scanned the crowd for some sort of plan that wasn't coming to him. However, his brown eyes did lock on something that, for an unknown reason, stuck out at him and made him suspicious.

It was just a kid: a boy with black hair and crystalline blue eyes. A grey beanie was shoved messily over his head and over his ears. He wore a plain white wife-beater, his bare arms slick with sweat. His blue-jeans were dark-washed and the laces on his red converses were slowly coming loose. A red jacket was tied around his waist, completely unneeded.

The teen was probably no more than fourteen, Rahne's and Jaime's age. He was dancing near a group of kids from his age and a little up but he didn't seem to be a part of the group. It looked like he was staying near it strictly for appearances. However, the boy's lively eyes were locked onto the girl with blue-hair, set deeply in concentration.

Logan's brows furrowed in suspicion as he watched the much younger boy stare deeply at the twenty-something girl. It wasn't normal for a kid his age to be so taken with someone so much older. So why was this boy staring so intently at this one girl, who was way out of his league?

"Something wrong, Logan?" Bobby asked with a bored look on his face. He seemed to have given up on the mission entirely, not seeing a way to get the girl's attention without seeming creepy in the process.

The other four seemed to perk at their friend's question, looking between the ice-wielder and one of their teachers. Logan turned his eyes to the kids before gesturing to the fourteen-year-old boy on the dance-floor, still concentrating on the girl that was way too old for him. The students at the table seemed confused by the importance of the boy for a little while before catching on to his act.

Of course, Rahne spoke up first, saying, "What a pervert."

Logan wanted to facepalm but resisted the urge. He made another annoyed sigh before replying, "I don't know about that. He seems to be concentrating on something specific about her. I can't tell what though."

The group at the table watched for a long while before Logan noticed something about the girl, making the dancing teenage boy grin as he spun around.

The blue-haired twenty-something had looked at him.

* * *

Danny had to admit; this was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do with his powers. It was hard concentrating on sending thoughts to the girl's subconscious while focusing on dancing at the same time. While he would've preferred to let his body go on autopilot and dance lamely, it wouldn't work well against the small thoughts he was carefully slipping into the girl's mind. So, for now, he had to multitask.

The teen wasn't sure if it was working, though. The girl, Ember, had yet to even glimpse him on accident, much less subconsciously seek him out with her own eyes. It was all so irritating and the boy half-wished he had the power to read minds instead of put small ideas in other's heads to, hopefully, get them to react to him with pleasure instead of annoyance.

So far, Ember didn't even seem to realize the thoughts roaming through her head. All her joy was centered on the music pumping out of the speakers and her desires were drifting to the man with a green mohawk sitting at the bar. Nothing else, at all, was enticing and Danny struggled to slip thoughts into the girl's head. While some of the sweat on him was from dancing among a large crowd, part of it was also from trying as hard as he was to get the girl's attention.

It was awhile longer before Danny could feel any form of reaction to the thoughts he was implanting in the older girl's head. As she did, she looked his way and Danny thought his tired knees would give out under him. He smiled back, happy to have finally gotten through her subconscious.

The two stayed apart for the longest time after, though Ember did give the fourteen-year-old more looks on the way. Each seemed to linger only seconds longer than the last, making Danny smile as a feeling of accomplishment spilled through his veins. Though the club was lively, Danny felt tired from his work and couldn't wait to escape so he could go home.

Ember looked his way again and Danny only smiled back, still dancing back and forth between some of the taller teenagers.

 _"That's right. The black-haired, blue-eyed kid is cute. Who cares if he's a little young? Besides, I'll just tease him a little bit."_

Danny dared to get a little closer and was thrilled to see the much older girl notice, swaying a little closer to his spot as well. Danny kept his distance for a little while longer though, making sure the thoughts had settled down deep before daring to make another move closer. Ember responded eagerly to his gesture by stepping cloer, trying to signal that she was interested, even if she didn't know it wasn't her idea in the first place.

Soon enough, the two were practically side-by-side as they rocked out to the pop music drowning their ear-drums and making them go deaf. The two casted glances at each other and, while no one else seemed to care what was going on, Danny couldn't help but feel as if the two were being watched closely. He brushed it off, though, thinking about who he was doing this for.

 _"The kid's cuter up close. I bet he's a little sweetheart."_

As if to prove himself and his own subliminal thoughts right, Danny gave the taller girl a cute smile and held out his hand timidly. Ember laughed at the younger's shy action and didn't hesitate to reach out and take his hand, allowing herself to be spun around by the smaller boy as she allowed herself to have a good time with him.

For Danny, the skin-contact all but sealed the deal.

The two continued to dance together and Danny made no other further moves on the older girl and chose the thoughts he carefully continued to plant with care. After all, he just wanted Ember to think she was only teasing him. He'd put more suggestive thoughts in her head in a little while but Danny refused to put anything over-the-top. After all, he probably wasn't going to see much of her after he had done what was needed of him.

As Ember laughed and decided it was Danny's turn to be spun, the black-haired boy smiled brightly to himself before catching sight of someone before his view was blocked. He chose not to show how much it bothered him and continued to give one of his cute grins to the older girl. With much persuasion, however, he was able to get her to turn around so he could look in the direction he thought he had seen the unusual spectators.

Danny was instantly struck with the familiarity the people giving him various looks were, though they had absolutely no idea who he was. Some were shocked, others were curious, and one was giving him a full-blown glare. It was the angry one the teen locked eyes with before Danny gave him a smug smirk, adding a certain sway to his hips in a teasing gesture for the older male. The black-haired male's terrifyingly angry look but this led the blue-eyed boy to laugh as the younger teens, some only a little older than he was, to give the man a confused stare.

The blue-eyed teen knew who they were. The leader was the Wolverine, if Danny remembered correctly. He wasn't too sure who each of the young teens were, just that they ran with the same team as the Wolverine. They were called the X-Men and wanted mutants to believe there could be equality between humans and mutants. Danny had thought it was a nice sentiment at first, before having it explained to him that there _would_ be a war between humans and mutants soon. And when that happened, the X-Men were going to surprise everyone by taking control of both sides with the group of mutants that had joined Professor Charles Xavier.

It was sad seeing kids his age being fooled by the telepath but Danny shook it off, concentrating on getting the untainted mutants onto his and his team's side so they could fight against the evil X-Men when they would try something. Danny was even more thrilled to see himself intercept Ember right before the X-Men could, blowing their chances of a new recruit.

Hands linked, Danny and Ember continued to sway back and forth and spin each other around, laughing as they sweated from the heat and their exerting activity. The pair was a strange sight, seeing the much taller girl lead the smaller, younger boy around as if he was her pet. No one thought about it too much though, seeing as there were stranger dance partners prancing around like they were the only ones in the world.

When Danny was sure Ember was carefully under his spell, he suggested that she grab her guitar and they ditch the club to find a better, more private spot. The black-haired, blue-eyed teen had to say it loud enough for her to hear but keep his voice soft enough so no one else would catch his words, seeing as he was too short to whisper in her ear. It was probably the only downside to mesmerizing people taller and older than you.

However, even though Danny hadn't done anything special, Ember only smiled sweetly at him, nodded her head, and broke their hands so she could rush off to grab her guitar. The blue-eyed teenager grinned after him, feeling some of his control over her slip with their skin-contact broken, but Ember hadn't even noticed their cracking connection, continuing her task without much thought.

Once she had grabbed her guitar, Ember turned around, spotted her date, and gestured discreetly to one of the exits with a wink. Danny stuck his tongue out at her playfully before looking over to where the X-Men were still watching him with their confused and angry faces. Directing his gaze to the Wolverine, Danny gave the unhappy male a peace sign and a teasing grin before rushing for the door, coming up at his 'date's' side and linking their hands together. Without a second thought, the two slid out of the club, shutting the door behind them and ignoring how the X-Men were moving to follow them.

Laughing, Danny rushed ahead of Ember and pulled her along behind him. Her laughter sounded behind him, mixing with his own mirth, and she enjoyed the playful way the teenager called her slow and told her to hurry up. The guitar she had strapped across her back bumped against her skin as she raced along with the teen boy that was way too young for her, a twenty-something-year-old that was in college.

They only ran for a couple of blocks before Danny pulled his catch into an alleyway, where Magneto, Plasmius, Mystique, and the Brotherhood were waiting for Danny and the girl. The helmeted leader of the group smiled as he saw the sweating teen pulling the blue-haired girl behind him and Ember, not at all phased by the newcomers and their strange appearances, only absently asked, "So who are these people, Baby-Pop?"

Danny smiled over his shoulder, batting his eyes at the girl as he came to a stop in front of the group. The adults were obviously pleased with the teen's success at getting the girl. The Brotherhood members were all rolling their eyes at the younger boy's display, not in the least bit amused and rather jealous of the way the adults had been favoring him since he and his mentor had been recruited.

The blue-eyed boy spun and connected his free hand with Ember's, twisting them around and bouncing them up and down. Rocking on his feet, Danny casually stated, "Oh, they're nobody, really. They're just gonna take us somewhere private, away from the city, where no one will find us. It'll be great; I promise."

"As long as you're around, Baby-Pop."

Humming, Danny pulled Ember past the adults and Brotherhood members. They continued down the alleyway until they reached the car waiting by the mouth. Like a gentleman, Danny opened the door for the girl and gave her a toothy-grin as she slid into the car with a pleased nod. The black-haired teen then looked towards the other teenagers and gave them one of his smug smirks as Magneto gave a quick praise at his work. "You jealous?"

"Heh. You wish." Lance answered, glaring at the younger teenager while crossing his arms over his chest. He hid his obvious jealousy well, unlike Toad and Fred. Wanda had a 'I-couldn't-care-less' look on her face and her brother seemed to share her feelings, shaking his head at the ebony-haired boy standing beside the car.

Danny almost retorted but the look Plasmius was giving him made the teen clamp his mouth shut before pouting at his mentor. The older male just shook his head at the teen, earning a sigh before the teen said, "Well, alright then, Lance. I gotta go but I'm sure we'll see each other soon."

"Unfortunately." Lance responded but Danny only laughed, slipping in behind Ember and shutting the door behind him. Inside the car, the teen smiled at his catch and moved over to sit next to her. Ember took his hand when he was close, feeling actions spoke more loudly than her words could. Her guitar laid abandoned off to the side.

The teen kept the small suggestions he kept up as a precaution as clean as possible, trying to keep away from getting physical with the older girl. To avoid any silence that could be taken as suggestive, Danny asked questions and listened carefully as the girl talked, looking up at her as if every word she said were coming from the mouth of God. It pleased Ember enough to where her thoughts wouldn't stray to anything over-the-top for Danny for more than a few seconds before Danny's questions and suggestions led her back to just speaking.

When a lot more time than needed passed, Danny began to absently wonder why they hadn't started driving before his musings were cut off as the car jerked. Neither Danny nor Ember knew what had hit the car enough for it to jerk because the windows were blacked out but it was only seconds after that that Magneto and Plasmius got in the front, hitting the gas and driving off, leaving Mystique and the Brotherhood members to take care of whatever it was.

"What was that?" Ember asked nervously, sitting at attention beside Danny, who had mirrored her position.

Looking over his shoulder, Magneto waved off the girl's inquiry. "It was nothing of concern. It will easily be taken care of by Daniel's friends. They are quite skilled at it."

At that, Danny knew it was the X-Men but they didn't want to bring that up to Ember quite yet. To stop her from questioning further, Danny tugged at her hand, gave her one of his winning smiles, and said, "Come on; don't worry about it. If there was anything to worry about, they'd tell us. Besides, I wanna hear more about the crazy concert you went to."

Ember hummed at Danny, rubbing her fingers over his knuckles. "Alright, Baby-Pop. If you say so. Where was I in the story again?"

"You said something about a mosh-pit."

"Ah yes, the mosh pit… Good times. Ha-ha! Anyways…"

In the mirror, Danny saw Plasmius give me an appraising look, obviously pleased with the way the teen diverted the girl's attention and kept her pleasantly distracted from everything going on around her. It made his and Magneto's job easier; something that made Danny beam as he pretended to be interested in Ember's story.

The drive was quiet except for Ember's talking and Danny's occasional comment or question. Magneto and Plasmius said nothing, letting the youngest charge-of-sorts under the metal-wielding man work his magic on the girl. Ember stayed happily oblivious to the things going on around her, despite the warning bells that were going on. She didn't even seem to know that the two adults in the front seat were listening to her chatter on.

They, eventually, came to a stop and Danny led her out of the car while he held her guitar protectively. Ember had fallen so far under his 'charm' that she didn't even seem to notice they had slipped out of the car and were walking into a large warehouse that would serve as a temporary base for Magneto and his crew.

Danny sat her down in a chair in the middle of the room, patiently waiting for her to finish her story. Fortunately for him, the ending wasn't far off and, before the girl could regale him with another tale, he interjected, saying, "That's great! Really! But I'd like you to meet a friend of mine, if you don't mind. He was one of the guys back in the alley. His name's Magneto."

 _"I want to meet this guy. If Danny likes him, he's got to be an ok person."_

"Ok!" Ember chirped and the teen beamed. As he stepped out of the way so Magneto could step in front of the girl, Danny let his presence slip out of her subconscious. While the suggestions would stay in her subconscious, they would start feeling unreal to Ember as time passed without the blue-eyed teen's constant supervision.

Danny joined her mentor's side, watching as Magneto stopped in front of the rocker girl. Even though the younger teen had just left her subconscious, the suggestions planted in her brain had already started to lose their effect and, by the look on her face, she was already wondering what the hell she had been thinking to go along with a fourteen-year-old's ploy.

"You did well." Plasmius commented beside the young boy, getting the teen to look up with a beaming smile at the praise. Danny's blue eyes twinkled happily.

"You think?"

"Mm-hmm."

Though it wasn't much, Danny was ecstatic with what few words his work managed to get out from the older male. Plasmius wasn't much of a person that liked to praise others. Instead, he saved it for when he thought the recipient deserved to hear it and said it in as little words as possible. It was sometimes off-putting but Danny had learned to appreciate Plasmius' compliments.

From the side, Danny watched as Ember quickly came back to her senses, occasionally giving him a confused and horrified look. Magneto had introduced himself and had only spoken reassurances so far, saving the announcement of his mission for a time when the blue-haired girl wouldn't be so astonished by the scenery around her.

"Think she'll join us?" Danny asked.

Plasmius hummed. "We shall see, won't we?"

* * *

 **Before anyone asks "Where the hell did you get this idea?", I'm just gonna say I was listening to the nightcore-ed versions of Hips Don't Lie by Shakira and Dressin' Up by Katy Perry when I came up with the idea. Because, hey, everything is better when you nightcore it. XD**

 **And yes, we'll revisit this. Fun, right? ^^**

 **Thanks to these people for favoriting/following: _DigiPokeNinjaDragon, KaioftheSkye, cottoncandy95._**

 **Guest Reviews:**

 **Guest(1): Aw, thank you! Haha, yeah, it was kind of out of the blue but that's what makes it interesting, right? XD Hm, interesting idea you have there! (It's ok; I dream about plots too, I totally understand.) The only problem is that it sounds quite a bit like reality warping, which I have already done, and I have to ask if there's a big difference I'm not seeing. :) As for your two questions, no pairings, since I'm not into romance and they all seem to be the same to me. And we're probably going to keep away from most canon stuff but I might dive into it a little. Who knows? I don't have much of a plan. XD Thank you!**


	7. Wound Healing

**Danny Phantom/Godzilla (HAHAHAHA, HOW MANY OF YOU THAT I DIDN'T BLUNTLY TELL SAW THIS COMING? HUH, HUH, HUH? NOBODY, RIGHT?)(Yes Kinzy, I am completely serious. This is the mystery chapter you sobbed over. XD *laughs hysterically*)**

* * *

Ch.7: Wound Healing

When Sam woke up, the first thing she felt was sand under body and clinging to her wet face as she laid on her back. Her body ached and throbbed unbearably. Her clothes were uncomfortably clinging to her skin, drenched and sticky. She could feel her slick hair all along her face, sticking to her skin. The air was warm and the sun beating down on her felt amazing. However, the breeze blowing over her bare flesh was bone-chilling; she could feel the goose-bumps crawling over her skin. It made her shiver as her muscles ached.

Cracking open her violet eyes, her vision was blurry for a moment. The only thing she could make out clearly was a dark mass hovering above her face, outlined by the blue skies and the fuzzy white mass of clouds drifting high in the atmosphere. The mass tilted to the side as the ebony-haired girl tried to remember what happened. Sam could just barely feel the way a worried aura came off the mass in waves. The girl wondered what or who the dark shape was.

Closing her eyes, Sam settled down again and waited for a few moments in the dark. Someone was saying something but it was like she was underwater; the sounds were muffled and disoriented. The person continued speaking though and, slowly, their voice became clearer, as if she were rising towards the surface of the water she felt she was drifting in.

As the voice became clearer, she realized that it was definitely masculine and the pitch was that of someone her age, if a little bit older. He sounded worried, though Sam had yet to figure out what the heck he was asking. She knew he was speaking English but the words just made little to no sense to her. Hopefully, her comprehension of words would come back to her soon so she could reply to the boy and ease his worries.

Before she had time to work on her understanding, the stranger's voice suddenly came closer to her and Sam forced her violet eyes to open again. Unlike the last time, her vision almost instantly snapped into focus, allowing her to finally see the owner of the voice ringing in her ears. She also saw that the boy was hovering a measly four inches above her face.

Sam screamed, making the boy above her yelp and jump back. The ebony-haired girl shot up and looked around her surroundings, only seeing lots of sand and the wide ocean in front of her and they debris that lay around her and floated in the water in disarray. Sam, seeing as there was nothing to see and not interested in the debris, quickly turned around to face the boy, who was kneeling a few feet away, paralyzed from being startled so suddenly. Behind him lay a huge, tropical rain forest with a dominating mountain range in the distance.

The girl couldn't help screaming again and the boy across from Sam waved widely, a completely horrified look on his face. "Don't scream! You're going to get us in so much trouble! Now _stop_!"

She was unsure of why she listened but Sam stopped screaming instantly. Breathing heavily, the ebony-haired girl looked the boy over as he gave a relieved sigh at her sudden quietness. While Sam was still utterly horrified by everything around her, the other teen gave her a reassuring smile that did nothing to qualm her fears.

The first thing Sam noticed about the other was his lack of wearing a shirt, leaving his chest and back completely bare. His skin was tan from the sun but dusty from all the dirt he was covered in. Very few places were left clean and, what little skin wasn't completely caked in mud revealed faint, white scars marring his skin and muscles forming along his torso and arms.

Even worse was the state of disrepair his jeans were in. Holes littered the material and strings were popping from the seams, sticking out painfully against the sun-bleached fabric. Nasty brown stains had become a permanent part of the scene, forever ruining the pair of jeans, and just below the ends of the legs, the teen's bare feet stuck out.

His face was easily the prettiest thing to look at since it wasn't so crusted in dirt and mud. The boy's features were sharp against his skin and the reassuring smile he gave her was blinding. There were straight, thin, brown streaks across his cheek, probably from being smacked with a tree-branch or two. There was another mud smudge above his left eyebrow from who-knew-what. There was also a tiny, white scar across his right eyebrow, barely seen through the dusty dirt covering his tan skin.

The boy had the clearest blue eyes she had ever seen and, though it seemed they were trapped on an island, they were laughing and happy. His bangs fell in his face and the strands were uneven from a choppy hair-cut he had probably done himself. The mop of black hair on top of his hair was ruffled, streaked with dirt, and overrun with knots. It ran down the back of his neck and the ends were, once again, uneven from a messy hair-cut.

Of course, Sam didn't really care how terrible the boy looked. She was just as disheveled as he was, after all. The goth girl just wanted to know what the flip had happened and to figure out where the hell she was.

Still in shock over waking up with a boy her age hovering mere inches from her own face, Sam quickly questioned, "Where am I?! Who are you?! What happened?!"

Laughing nervously, the ebony-haired boy held up his hands in the universal signal for surrender and moved so he was standing in the sand. He towered over the sitting girl but his height wasn't at all intimidating. If anything, his height made Sam feel safer since he would be labeled a 'shrimp' back at her school. Dealing with him, if need be, would be easier since she wasn't all that tall herself.

"Calm down." The boy said soothingly, still holding up his hands. "You're fine. Well, mostly… My name's Danny. I have no idea what happened to you; you just kind of washed up on shore. As for where we are… Yeah, you probably don't want to know the answer to that one."

Though her breathing was finally calm and her heart had slowed to a steady drum in her chest, Sam leveled a glare on the boy, revealing the levels of her mistrust. "Where the hell are we?"

"Uh…" The taller teen, Danny, mumbled, eyes shifting around nervously. With a sigh, he responded, "We're on a huge island that has been oh-so-affectionately named Monster Island."

Sam could feel her heart _stop_. Her breath caught in her throat. She could feel her blood run cold through her veins. Time seemed to stop and Sam completely missed the way the taller boy looked nervous at her frozen state. Danny called to her, not saying her name because he didn't know it but still trying to earn a response anyways. However, his voice went in one of Sam's ears and slipped out the other a second later.

Monster Island. Home of the world's most feared kaijus and their notorious "king."

She couldn't have ended up anywhere worse.

"Uh, girl? Hey! You ok? I know it's kind of a big shocker and all but it's not that bad! Really..! Hey girl, come on! Please answer me!" The ebony-haired boy continued calling, waving his arms around and tilting back and forth to get her attention. Sam noticed he didn't dare move closer to her spot, despite the fact she had gone completely inactive.

"You… You mean we're _stuck_ on _Godzilla's home turf_?!" Sam shrieked hysterically because how on earth was anyone supposed to survive that?! She and this random teen were stuck on the King of Monster's home-base! Everyone knew the devastation that happened when monsters invaded from space and tried to stand up to the King of Monsters! And who could ever forget what happened when Godzilla had merely decided to rampage without any reasoning so many years back? Man, she was screwed.

Once again, Danny gestured wildly for the girl to keep quiet while shushing her. "Don't scream! Yes, I know this looks bad! It looks terrible, even! But screaming makes it worse! Just stay calm and be quiet for a minute!"

Sam's mouth shut with an obvious _snap_. She stared up at the ebony-haired boy with wide, terrified eyes but he was, once again, smiling reassuringly at her. That stupid, toothy smile made Sam want to _scream her head off_ at its total obliviousness but she kept her trap painfully shut.

"Alright, look. Living on the island isn't nearly as terrifying as it sounds. Yes, it is scary sometimes but not full-blown horror movie material. The monsters that live here are pretty peaceful. …most of the time. I mean, I've only seen Godzilla, considering this is his part of the island but the entire island tends to shake when any of the monsters are having problems with each other. And that doesn't happen often so they're moderately peaceful creatures." Danny explained nervously, reaching his hand around his head to rub the back of his neck with a nervous smile.

Shaking her head to clear herself of all the off-the-wall questions she wanted to ask, Sam asked, "How would you know all this?"

Danny's nervous smile faded into one of hollow amusement. His hand dropped from his head to his side and his other hand balled into a fist, resting lightly on his hip. "I don't think you quite understand how long I've lived on the island."

The ebony-haired girl didn't have time to ask what that meant as the ground under her and the other teen suddenly shook. The trembles rumbled through the earth, shaking the tiny grains of sand around them. The tremors stopped moments afterwards but there was no time to say anything as Danny shot forward, grabbing Sam's arm and pulling her up on her achy legs as she yelped. Without an explanation, he pulled her along towards the forest, hurriedly saying, "We need to hide!"

Another tremor vibrated the earth under their feet, making Sam stumble. She would've fallen, had it not been for Danny quickly jerking her after him without a word. He shushed her when she yelped and pulled her from the sandy beach, ducking into the trees. He stopped just inside the tree-line, looking around hurriedly before pulling Sam after him again. The ebony-haired girl wanted to ask what was going on but Danny practically shoved her to the ground and into a tiny opening in the side of a large rock wall, telling her quietly to get in as deep as she could.

Without hesitation, Sam crawled into the hole that was barely tall enough to fit her lying in a plank. She found the back and pressed her body against it, allowing enough room for Danny to crawl in after her. He was barely covered entirely, even though his side was pressing into Sam's. He wasn't concerned with the lack of personal space, though; his eyes were drawn to something happening outside the cave.

Sam squirmed beside the still boy, wriggling around until her chin rested against his shoulder. She could see outside the tiny cave they had taken refuge in as the ground rumbled under them again. Dust and tiny bits of rock rained down on them from the ceiling and Sam worried for a second before seeing Danny's unconcerned expression. He was worried, of course, but it wasn't directed to the tremors around them, more focused on the force causing them.

The ebony-haired girl almost screamed when a giant foot covered in black, rough hide entered her line of view. She did gasp but Danny didn't even hear it and he was right beside her. Sam was utterly surprised when Danny didn't react with any form of shock, just worry as he carefully peeked his head from the cave. The sun shined down on his ebony hair and lit his tan face as he looked up at the tall, impressive frame that couldn't be anything or anyone else other than Godzilla.

Danny didn't stay out in the open for long before he quickly ducked his head back into the cave. Before Sam could ask him what happened, he shot a look over his shoulder that said not to make any noise yet. Sam's mouth closed again and her chin continued to rest comfortably on the other teen's shoulder as he rested his own chin on the dusty ground under him, fully prepared to wait however long it would be until the King of Monsters was gone.

Sam continued to watch out the opening of their hiding spot as the foot lifted off the ground and felt the tremors under her body as it landed a distance a ways. The image was soon replaced by Godzilla's large tail that followed after the large beast as it snaked up and down in the air. The scene made the girl's heart pound but she stayed perfectly quiet, as Danny had gestured that she should do.

The image of the roaming tail began to leave her line of view as she heard large splashes in the distance. The two teens listened closely as the King of Monsters entered the ocean, slowly disappearing under the surface and swimming off to who-knew-where.

Sam was startled when Danny began to leave the cave as the waves continued to splash and romp around loudly in the distance. He seemed to notice her hesitance to leave and shot another one of his reassuring smiles over his shoulder, saying, "It's fine. He's gone now. It'll take awhile for the waves to calm down but it doesn't take anymore than a few seconds for him to get below the surface."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked hesitantly, still shocked by the sight of Godzilla. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered what her reaction would be if she saw his face. After all, she was in shock after seeing just _part_ of the King of Monsters. What would she do if she were to see his entire self?

Danny nodded and hummed soothingly, rolling out the rest of the way. He got onto his knees before hopping into a crouch. One of his hands slipped back into the large cave, holding it out for Sam to take. Still hesitant, she took it and allowed Danny to pull her out and get her on her feet while he continued to smile. She wondered how his lips could still turn upwards like that in the situation they were in, especially since he had eluded a little earlier that he had been on the island for a long time.

"You know… You never did tell me your name, even though I gave you mine." Danny said, unclasping his hand around hers and crossing his arms over his chest.

The ebony-haired girl raised an eyebrow at the barely taller boy who was just so perky. However, she answered, "My name's Sam."

"Awesome! You already know my name so we're even!" Danny chirped, having brightened at her name before turning and walking away, journeying further into the woods. Sam watched him for a moment with wide, confused eyes. She was perfectly still, which caught Danny's attention as he turned back towards her with his perfectly goofy smile. "Well Sam, are you going to follow me? I'd be kind of offended if you didn't want to be with me, seeing as I am the only other human on the island."

Snapping back to attention, Sam stumbled after the taller boy, ignoring his laugh, and joined his side. Once she was beside him, he linked his arm with hers and began walking further into the woods with the ebony-haired girl by his side.

Sam almost asked why he had suddenly linked their arms before being painfully reminded by her memory that the other teen had been alone on the island of monsters for a unanimous amount of time. She couldn't imagine the suffocating loneliness he had no doubt felt during his stay and it was probably a huge relief to finally have a companion, one even roughly his age. If it had been her, she would've been bursting at the seams with excitement.

Feeling her lips twitch, Sam tightened her arm around the boy's and was happy to see him beam down at her gleefully.

"So Sam, what happened that led you to drifting onto Monster Island's beach?" Danny asked, dodging past shrubbery and shying away from tree-branches that would surely scratch his skin.

The ebony-girl hummed as she thought, her small smile turning downwards into a frown. She hadn't really lingered on the thought when she woke up, more concerned with where she was and who the heck the shirtless teen beside her was. But now that she thought about it, she remembered going on a boat-ride with her parents and her parents' wealthy friends.

"I was on a yacht." Sam started, still frowning as she began remembering everything that had happened. "It belonged to my parents' friends. They were excited because it was new, expensive, etc. They had never had a boat either and it was their first. Like typical snobs, they wanted to show it off and invited my parents to go along and I was roped into going with them. It was fine for the first couple of hours, I guess, but, then… Something happened down below. I don't know what but, suddenly, the boat was on fire and people were jumping ship. I, obviously, jumped as well with a life preserver under my arms. I floated for a bit, trying to find my parents in the confusion, but the boat blew. I was hit in the head with a wooden plank and the next thing I know is your face hovering above now." Sam gave her companion a teasing smile now, despite her worries for her parents.

Danny laughed at her prod and ignored the lizards scurrying away from his bare feet as he looked along a path that had been well worn with use. He subconsciously stepped over the bugs in his path and Sam smiled as she watched her step, noticing the way Danny effortlessly molded to the path around them.

"So how did you get here?" Sam asked curiously, blinking up at the taller figure owlishly.

The raven-haired male shrugged and responded, "I was in a plane crash. I don't remember anything that happened, just that I washed up on shore with a few other survivors on a bunch of suitcases. I must've hit my head on something hard during the crash. The other survivors and I lived here for awhile but, one by one, everyone just disappeared or died until it was only me."

Sam sputtered up at Danny, wide-eyed at his short but tragic story. "H-How long ago was the crash?!"

"Do you know the date?"

Taken back by the sudden question, Sam robotically responded with the date of the yacht accident (seeing as she didn't know how much time had passed), which had been April 30th, 2014. She watched as Danny's face scrunched up and heard him mumble, "Damn. Time flies when you're having fun…or fighting for your life. But what's the difference really?"

"How long ago?" Sam asked again, ignoring the boy's mutters.

Danny shrugged and smiled his irritating smile, replying, "I was just about to turn twelve at the time and, according to your timeframe, I turned sixteen just a few weeks ago. It's been roughly four years."

The girl's feet froze on the ground and Danny, who had continued walking, jerked back when Sam refused to move from her spot. Their linked arms pulled before Danny snapped back to the girl's frozen side. The ebony-haired boy looked down at Sam with his own wide, blue eyes.

 _Four years._ Sam was blown away by that. She had known it was going to be a long time but… _That long?_ Danny had been stuck on Monster Island for four years with barely anybody else with him? How was he not completely _insane_? The loneliness should have long since driven him mad and, if not the isolation, the worry of never leaving Monster Island should've done the job instead. How was he so calm and collected, despite encountering the King of Monsters so many times? She would've lost her mind within the first week!

Oh gosh, would she be stuck there for as long as Danny? Would anybody come for them? Would they live the rest of their lives on the God-forsaken island with nobody but themselves and the monsters around them? They couldn't be forgotten, swept under the rug, so easily though, could they? People wouldn't do that to them, would they?

But then again… Four years Danny had been there…

"Sam? You ok?"

Looking up, Sam saw Danny's worried look and saw it was all directed at her stupor. There was nothing else for him to worry about. He wasn't anxious about the coming day. He didn't ponder over the other people in the world who may or may not be looking for him. He wasn't cursing God for his predicament and he didn't pity himself for the mess he was in. Danny just seemed to live in the moment and go along with life like it was his best friend. It was the only reason he could smile with the ever-changing hell around him and how he hadn't gone completely bonkers with having no one but himself to talk to.

The goth girl hadn't thought the amount of admiration she had for the other teen was possible.

Danny waved his hand in front of his companion's face while frowning. "Hey Sam? Are you ok? I know Monster Island is kind-of a shocker but-" The boy was cut off when Sam suddenly hugged him tightly around the middle, startling the crap out of him. He froze in his spot, eyes wide as his arms hovered in the air, the smaller girl wrapped around his waist. "S-Sam?"

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"I don't know. But I'm sorry."

And she was. Maybe it was because she hadn't known about the boy earlier; someone who could have easily been one of her classmates. Maybe Sam was sorry because the world had left him on a kaiju-ridden island for so long. Maybe she was sorry simply because, out of all the islands spread across the earth, his terrible luck got him stuck on the God-forsaken Monster Island.

Sam felt Danny finally relax under her arms. He wrapped his arms around her frame, resting his head on her head gently. He didn't say anything.

The goth girl ignored how out-of-character she was being but, then again, who could blame her? She was stuck on an abandoned island with one teen boy and they could run across a kaiju at any given time. She worried about the other people that had been on the yacht and wondered if her and her new companion would ever leave.

It took a moment for her to stop all those thoughts. Sam calmed herself down by thinking of the way Danny handled everything by not handling anything at all. He just went along with whatever he needed to and that was how he survived. She just needed to follow the boy's lead. He was obviously getting somewhere with his happy demeanor.

Then Sam had to wonder… If she went back in time and met the Danny before Monster Island, would she meet the same person or someone completely different? After all, she hadn't been awake for more than half-an-hour and already most of her dominant personality traits had been thrown out the window. Had Danny gone through some epic character change?

Somehow, Sam doubted he had. This thought made her grin and laugh. A second laughter, Danny pulled away from her with his ever-present, obnoxiously optimist grin and he asked her, "What are you laughing at?"

Shaking her head, Sam responded, "It's nothing. Although, I am curious… Were you always so painstakingly optimistic?"

Another laugh fell from the ebony-haired boy's mouth and he shrugged as a response. "I don't know. Maybe? You should probably ask someone who knew me before all this crap happened. I don't think I'm much of a reliable source."

Sam laughed again and allowed Danny to tug her hand, walking from their spot and further into the woods. They slipped into an easy, companionable silence. It eased all of Sam's nerves and made things seem not so bad in an impossible situation. The girl couldn't remember feeling so relaxed in a long time.

Soon enough, they were walking beside a shallow stream that ran towards the direction of the ocean. Sam's breath was taken away by how clear the water was, sunlight sparkling off the surface as small fish swam in the shallow waters. There were a few plants trapped between the rocks with the ends being pulled along with the current, though they never got anywhere.

Danny smiled at her astonishment, saying, "In all of my four years here, I never get tired of the view."

The girl hummed in response, tearing her eyes from the scene to look at the boy walking in front of her. Their hands were still clasped together as they stepped over the roots of trees and pushed past the bushes and ferns. Sam watched Danny's expression as he looked over the familiar path with the same wonder she had twinkling in her eyes.

Though Monster Island was filled with kaijus that could kill them at any given moment, it sure was a beautiful place. It was nice to see it so completely untouched by humans. Well, all humans except for one (that continued to live, anyways).

Sam's face scrunched up in curiosity. "So what's it like living here?"

The raven-haired boy turned his dirty face towards the girl and shrugged again. He ducked under a low-hanging branch and stepped over a fallen tree. Responding, he said, "Well, it's kind of boring. I mean, every day I go out and find food. I always make sure I have enough wood to burn. I don't have to worry about water much; the stream is freshwater and clean. Really, I just make sure I have everything I need. If I'm all set for awhile, I like to explore, though I'm sure I haven't even made a dent covering the entire island."

"And what do you do when Godzilla suddenly appears?"

"What we did today: hide. I don't know why I bother. He's never been aggressive towards me. I seem to be a mere nescience and he always manages to find me anyways. Even today he saw me." Danny said while shooting a ruthful smile over his shoulder at the girl. "Sometimes I think he gets a sick enjoyment watching me scramble around."

Sam frowned in slight worry. "Do you think he'll be aggravated by me?"

Danny shrugged but the look on his face said he wasn't overly worried about the reaction of the King of Monsters would have. "I don't see why he would. After all, there used to be more of us and he wasn't overly concerned. In all seriousness, I don't think he really cares we're here. I know this is going to sound kind of insane but… I think he and I have a weird, mutual respect thing going on between us. I mean, he's the frikkin King of Monsters and I managed to stay alive this long on his island. That's got to count for something, doesn't it?"

The ebony-haired teen was right; he did sound completely absurd. But then again, who knew what was going through Godzilla's head at any given time? Besides, Sam was curious as to how her companion came to his conclusion. "And why do you think that, Danny?"

Smiling at the use of his name, Danny looked over his shoulder and had a far off look in his eyes, though his blue orbs were supposed to be locked on Sam's violet eyes. "Well, there was a time not too long after all the other survivors disappeared and/or died that I caught some bug. I stayed in my shelter for the entirety of a couple of days, which the old kaiju seemed to notice. He started coming by my shelter, briefly checking up on me each day until I finally got better and started leaving. He stopped coming by after that."

The goth girl raised an eyebrow at the story but didn't deny the truth in it. For a moment, she thought Danny might've been hallucinating or dreaming but soon dismissed the idea. When Godzilla walked, the ground shook under him and the earth trembled. It would bring any person out of an ill-induced stupor or deep sleep within seconds.

So it left her wondering why on earth the large beast would even bother acknowledging the presence of the boy, much less make sure he was still alive when the teen hadn't been out and about in days.

It also left Sam with another question… "How often do you see Godzilla?"

"Eh, around five or six times a week, I figure. I mean, I don't keep count of the days so I'm guessing but it'd explain why my absence was so noticeable." Danny replied, shrugging his shoulders again without much thought as he ducked under another branch.

Sam did the same and clutched Danny's hand tighter as the jungle around them suddenly grew denser. The teen boy squeezed her hand reassuringly, getting the ebony-haired girl to smile as her companion continued, "Although, when he suddenly goes off into the water like he did today, he's usually not back for a week or two, leaving me totally hanging. It's a weird thing he does. I've been worried lately, though. His trips just keep getting shorter and he keeps appearing more frequently."

"Do you have any idea why he's suddenly restless?" Sam asked curiously.

Danny snorted and shook his head, shooting and amused look over his shoulder at his companion. "Not a clue. It's not like I can just go up and ask him about his problems. Yeah, that'd go over _real well_."

"Ah, shut up."

"But you love my voice!"

"Pushing it, boy."

The ebony-haired boy laughed as he pushed past a wall of ferns and low-hanging branches, allowing himself and his companion to enter a large clearing. Sam immediately noticed the cave off to the side and the stream parallel to it and off to the side. The scene was literally every survivalist's dream-come-true and the way Danny stopped showed he and his old crew had taken advantage of it.

Smiling down at the girl by his side, Danny commented, "You know, you should probably go wash off in the river. You're covered in sand and dried blood."

"What?! Blood?!" Sam yelled, quickly looking down at herself for the first time since waking up. She noticed just how ripped her clothes were. Her shirt was stretched out and one sleeve had slipped off her shoulder. Her shorts looked a lot like Danny's jean but, fortunately, on a lesser scale of destruction. Her shoes were the least of her worries, as they nothing more than soaked through completely with saltwater.

True to Danny's word, there was blood along her legs and down the back of one of her arms, though most of it seemed to have been scrubbed off. However, much to the girl's confusion, there were no wounds that would tell her where the blood came from. Just… Thin, white scars that hadn't been there the last time she was awake?

Shocked out of her mind, Sam yelled, " _What the hell?!_ "

Danny chuckled nervously beside her, rubbing the back of his head in an anxious gesture. "Uh, yeah, you see… Um, how do I explain this simply as possible? When you washed up on shore, I think you were hit with more than just a plank of wood because you were covered in gashes… That's not the point, though. The point is I'vegotthisfreakyabilitythatletsmehealmyselfandothersreally,reallyquickly."

Sam couldn't make out whatever the heck it was that Danny said last and asked him to repeat himself. With a sigh, he repeated, "I've got a freaky ability that lets me heal others and me quickly. I healed you before you woke up because it's kind of painful. You probably feel really achy right now because of it but I don't think you've noticed with how much crap's been going on."

Of course, now that Danny had pointed it, Sam realized there were aches throughout her body but, like he said, they had been easily ignored with the abundance of new things being thrown her way. Now she half-wished Danny hadn't said anything until the aches in her muscles disappeared so she wouldn't have to deal with them.

"Alright, yeah, I think I'll go wash off, like you said." Sam said, noticing the way Danny seemed relieved by her lack of response to the reveal of his special abilities. She smiled up at him and began walking towards the river. Danny called that he'd be inside the cave and walked off, leaving the girl by herself. Sam shuddered as she began noticing all the foreign feelings across her skin and wandered over to the river.

The girl scrubbed off all the foreign substances clinging to her skin and scrubbed her clothes clean as well, watching to make sure Danny wasn't anywhere close when she did. Thankfully, he was preoccupied with whatever it was he was doing in the cave and paid zero attention to Sam.

When she got out, Sam joined Danny in the cave and found out he was attempting to make a second bed inside for her later that night. However, he laughingly told her that he was failing and was probably just going to let her take his spot that night and worry about it in the morning. This made Sam laugh before she pushed him out of the way so she herself could work on it instead.

Sam looked around the space Danny had occupied for the last four years, noticing the disarray of things he had. There were clothes of various styles and sizes, which is what he mostly used for his bedding. There was a fire in the middle that wasn't very big but it sufficed. There was a pile of dry wood stacked up along one of the walls and a small pile of fruit near it. Sam also noticed a pile of miscellaneous things not too far away but they wouldn't be of any help, considering it was all just useless trinkets.

"Where'd you get all this stuff?" Sam asked curiously, continuing the work Danny had left off. He was pretty much separating some of the clothes from his and had been doing it with a calculation that wasn't needed.

"Like I said, I woke up floating on a suitcase that was my make-shift raft. The others were the same way and considering how hard it is to get materials on an untouched island, we pretty much kept everything. Anything can be useful around here." Danny answered casually, shrugging his shoulders as he watched her work. "I plan on going back to the beach later to pick through the debris from your crappy mishap. You can come if you want."

The girl nodded before asking, "What was your group like?"

It was quiet for a moment and Sam paused, wondering if she shouldn't have asked. Beside her, she felt Danny shake his head and laugh breathlessly. "Well… They were cool, I guess. I was the only kid. The rest of the group was made up of the leader, Skulker, a guy named Johnny and his girlfriend, Kitty, an egomaniac, Walker, a college student named Elliot, and a dancer named Desiree.

"The only reason any of us made it as far as we did was because Skulker was one of those extreme survivalists. It sure came in handy and he whipped us into shape real quick." Danny said with a smile before he sobered. "It wasn't enough for some of us, though. We all had wounds from the crash but everyone noticed mine had healed and scarred way too quickly for normal. It was the first time I used my abilities and I tried my hardest to fix the others. I got through Johnny, Kitty, Skulker, and Walker without too much trouble but, at the time, my powers were still unstable. I caused them a lot of pain healing them up.

"When I tried to heal Elliot, I ended up making everything worse instead of helping. Again, my abilities were unstable and it was hard enough getting the other four back together. Skulker made me stop trying and figured we would find a way to heal Desiree and Elliot normally. I guess it wasn't meant to be because they both got an infection and, eventually, died."

Sam frowned and drew back from working, sitting down next to the sullen boy. She put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "You couldn't have done anything; I hope you know that."

"I know. It doesn't stop me from thinking I could've done something, though." Danny replied, shrugging again and giving her a sad look. "The others lasted a lot longer, at least. I'm guessing we were a few months into it when Kitty and Johnny went out to find some food. Kitty was the only one that came back. She never told us what happened to Johnny.

"The next person to go was Walker. He was bitten by one of the few snakes on the island. It was poisonous and he died a few hours after the incident. When Walker was bitten, I had gotten better at my powers by working on any wound, big or small, the others came back with so we could avoid even the smallest of infections. I tried with Walker but my powers don't really work with venoms, it seems.

"After that, it was Kitty. I don't know how but she somehow managed to contract some kind of virus. Once again, my powers were completely useless and a few days after catching the bug, she died. That left me and Skulker."

"You know you don't have to be sharing any of this with me, right?" Sam cut off, not liking the sullen air that had fallen around the teen boy beside her. It was a huge difference from his usual perky self and she didn't like it. The girl wanted to make a smile come back to his face.

Though a tiny grin did sprout at her words, it was laced with sadness. "I know but I like sharing with someone. I haven't had the chance in a long time."

Sam nodded in understanding and let him continue without another word.

"Anyway, with no one else left to help, Skulker began teaching me all about 'the fine art of surviving.'" Danny said with a mocking tone in his voice. It made Sam laugh and Danny continued, saying, "He taught me everything he knew, making sure I knew how to take care of myself so I could help the two of us survive. It was just us for the longest time and then, eight months ago, I guess, he went off to find food and never came back. I don't know if he's dead or alive and I probably never will, unless I find a body. I've been alone since."

The goth girl didn't say it aloud but she was relieved Danny hadn't been alone as long as she originally had thought. He had had a hard-ass survivalist for the majority of the time but it was better than nothing. Beggars couldn't be choosers, after all.

Grabbing her new friend's hand, Sam gave the boy a hesitant smile and said, "Well, you have me now and I'm going to make sure you teach me everything Skulker taught you, got it?"

An amused grin spread across the boy's face and he cackled. "OOO, this is going to be fun~!"

Sam laughed with him and finished her work, managing to make her own spot to rest before she and the other teen went back to the beach to pick through the debris for anything they could carry back to their home-base. They chatted lightly as they worked and Sam told the other boy all about her life back on the mainland. When she was finished, she asked Danny about his. She froze when she heard that nervous chuckle of his and, though she didn't see him, Sam could feel Danny reaching to rub the back of his neck.

"Um, well… Remember how I told you I don't remember anything about the plane crash because my head must've hit something really hard? Well, that also goes for pretty much my entire life. I don't remember anything other than my name: Daniel James Fenton." Danny admitted to her, another one of his breathless laughs falling from his mouth.

' _Of course_ ,' was the only thought that ran through Sam's mind after hearing that as she sighed, feeling rather sorry for Danny, despite the fact he was one of the happiest people she had ever come across.

Danny seemed to realize his lack of memories made the other teen depressed and began regaling her with tales of his Godzilla sightings. While most simply had him and the King of Monsters making eye-contact, there were a few, such as the time he was sick, where Sam found herself curious beyond reason about the kaiju. Danny's stories only fueled this curiosity.

There wasn't much to find on the beach, no matter how much the two teens looked as they tossed stories back and forth. Most of what was found was boat parts and, while they could be useful, they weren't desired over more pressing materials they would need in the near future. Some of the parts were simply too big to drag back to the shelter anyways.

The two left the beach as the sun began setting and only a few trinkets were in their hands to put with the pile. Hopefully, they could find some use for the objects in the future but they didn't have any ideas on what they would be good for at the moment.

When they got back, Danny tended to the dwindling fire for a little bit before eating the fruit he had picked earlier that day and split the portions with Sam as they continued to talk. The two chatted well into the night, just getting to know each other better, before both teens grew tired and decided to bed down for the night. Curling up in their beds, the two smiled before drifting off to sleep.

A few hours went by and the fire crackling in the center of the cave began dying out, casting the cave in shadows and darkness that the two sleeping teenagers didn't notice. However, just as the last of the flames died out, leaving glowing embers in the circle of burnt logs, a tremor was sent through the ground.

Danny awoke immediately to the vibration, sitting up in his bed with tired eyes as he directed his gaze to the mouth of the cave. His blue eyes could see the moonlight shining down on the clearing, casting everything in blue-grey light. He half-expected to see an animal of some sort but there was nothing but the sounds of the river trickling a ways off.

Another tremor shook the ground and Danny's eyes widened in shock. He got up, not noticing the way Sam stirred this time, and stumbled towards the opening of the cave. He fell onto his knees before he could exit completely, looking out the opening and putting his hand against the cave wall for support. A gasp fell from his mouth at what he saw.

Godzilla was walking across the island a few hundred miles away but his huge size made him seem as close as a few feet. An irritated expression seemed to be dominating his facial features but Danny had never been good at reading the kaiju's expressions. The monster shone in the moonlight; his hide was slick with seawater but Godzilla didn't seem to care or notice.

Sam came up behind Danny and kneeled down behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders as she looked out the cave with him. Danny heard her gasp in his ear, mirroring what he had done.

What was the King of Monsters doing back already?! He'd only been gone for half a day!

Danny was unconcerned when the huge monster paused in his steps, his head turning towards the dark cave. The teen wasn't surprised to see the giant's large eyes lock onto them, wondering how he did every time, no matter where Danny was or how good he hid. The black eyes saw Sam, something Danny worried about for a moment, before the kaiju simply turned his head and began walking to his destination again. The ground rumbled with each step he took.

Leaning closer to her new friend, Sam whispered, "I thought you said he was gone for a week or two at a time."

"I also said he's been acting weird but… Even in his agitated state, it's crazy for him to be back so soon!" Danny replied, confused and worried about what had the great Godzilla restless. The King of Monsters was a force of nature that was feared everywhere. Nothing scared Godzilla, of course, but what was off with the world that had him so shaken?

The ebony-haired muttered, "I wonder what trouble the world is in now…"

* * *

 **IT'S GODZILLA, GUYS! OH MY GOSH, IT WAS FRIKKIN GODZILLA! I AM SO HAPPY I GOT TO FINALLY DO SOMETHING WITH HIM! HAHAHAHA! I'MA SO HAPPY~! KINZY, DON'T YOU DARE KILL MY HAPPINESS EVEN THOUGH I PROBABLY KILLED YOURS, YOU LITTLE FREAKISH MONSTER~! *dies***

 ***revives* Alright, I got that out of my system. Now, this specific universe takes place after pretty much all the movies but right before the 2014 one (which was a total disappointment because, seriously? They showed Godzilla for, like, fourteen minutes of the entire movie. Really? The villains had more time than he did and it's called GODZILLA! NOT FREAKY ALIENS!) As for Danny's power, would healing is a lot different from a healing factor. Did you notice? XD**

 **Now, if you need me, I'll be re-watching Godzilla vs. Biollante on VHS and I'm taking my Gameboy Advanced SP with me. XD**

 **Thanks to these people for favoriting/following:** ** _Meika-Rei Z, bluesz, chibigokugirl, whitewolf7206, Luna-tic4590._**

 **Guest Reviews:**

 **Guest(1): I'm glad you enjoyed it. ^^**

 **Secretwhovianpon: Well, Danny also thinks he's doing good. Brainwashing~! XD You named a bunch I already planned on doing or didn't even know existed. You'll find out which ones I know in the future. *winks***


	8. Divided Mind

**Danny** **Phantom/Avatar: The Last Airbender (NOW SHUT UP ABOUT IT, KINZY. XD)**

* * *

Ch.8: Divided Mind

Danny frowned as he slumped against the walls of his prisons, arms hugging his knees to his chest as shivers racked his cold body. His black hair was hanging in his face and his blue eyes shone with irritation and desperation. His hands wrapped around his opposite forearms, occasionally moving up and down to try and rub some warmth into them. His thin but sturdy grey robes weren't enough to keep him warm and Danny worried he'd freeze to death.

"This is ridiculous." The teen muttered, burying his head in his grey-clad legs. His teeth chattered and his breath fogged in front of him. Danny almost attempted to retreat into his mind, where he wouldn't feel the cold settling into his bones, but then he reminded himself he'd have to deal with the other two's constant complaints and arguments. He really didn't want to deal with their irritating voices when he was so low on energy.

Through his barred window, an icy breeze slipped through and brushed against the bare skin on his hands and face. The cold slipped through the light material of his clothing, obviously made for warmer climates, and another terrible shudder swept throughout the boy's already trembling body. His dry, frosty hands clamped tighter around his arms. He hardly felt it because he was slowly going numb.

More puffs of misty, white air escaped Danny's mouth as he began pushing himself off the ground unsteadily. His stiff and sore legs let him stumble to the ice bars on the other side of the cell and he stopped himself before them, not daring to reach out and touch them with his bare fingers. Instead, he wrapped his arms around his chest and rubbed up and down his arms. Irritably, the teen called, "Hey! Anyone there?! I know I shouldn't be making any demands but I'm freezing in here! Is anyone out there?!"

No one answered him. Nothing stirred except for Danny, who continued to shiver violently inside his cell. Though his cheeks and nose were rosy red from the cold, the rest of his face was drained of color. Blue eyes were starting to droop in tiredness and his form was slumping, knees buckling. Danny felt all the feeling in his body starting to slip away from his limbs. Even so, he couldn't stop shivering.

The teen tried calling again for a few more minutes, restating that he was freezing, losing all feeling in his limbs, and needed to get appropriate clothing at the very least. However, his calls went unanswered and Danny's voice began to die in his throat. Sniffles replaced his words and the ebony-haired teen trudged to the back of his cell again, curling up in one of the corners in an attempt to stay warm.

Danny wished he had heavier clothing. Though he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and long trousers under his grey robe, they still did a terrible job at keeping the heat in his body. They were made for mild nights, where a chill was present but not overwhelming. The climate Danny was now wasting away in was absolutely ridiculous. He wouldn't be able to take the frigid temperatures much longer.

Even so, none of the people of the Northern Water Tribe seemed to care or notice his deteriorating state.

"W-Why c-c-couldn't I have b-b-been c-caught in the F-Fire N-Nation?" Danny asked himself irritably, burying his head in his knees again. He wanted to uncurl from his position because of his aching ribs but that would just make him feel colder. However, if he hadn't gotten caught in the first place, he wouldn't even be in such a terrible situation! He was an idiot!

The teen was quiet as he sat in the chilly cold. The cold continued to crush him from all sides while all feeling in his body continued slipping away from him. It was one of the weirdest sensations Danny had ever felt and it was rather unpleasant. He decided he could've gone his whole life without feeling it and he still would've been able to die happy.

To make matters worse, the other two beings in his head decided it was time to make themselves heard.

" _You should really let me take over. I'll warm your body right up and get you out of this cursed place. Come on, you know you want me to~!_ "

"Uh, yeah, you really don't want him to do that. If anything, he'll just make this entire situation worse. A preferred option would be to just wait in the mindscape until someone shows up to take care of you."

" _Ah, shut your trap, Snowflake. You're so uptight. If I was let off my chain more, we'd all have a great time and nothing would stop us from getting out of tough situations. I'm amazing that way._ "

"Yes, 'amazing' is the word I would use in the context you're using…"

" _You're not funny, wise-guy!_ "

"And you're not helping, bastard!"

" _No one will let me!_ "

Danny let out a long groan and resisted the temptation to bash his aching skull into the snow wall to his side. Instead of answering mentally, as he usually did, Danny growled out, "Would you both shut up?! Freezing in a Water Tribe cell is bad enough but you two make it so much worse! Can't I freeze to death in peace?!"

"Well then!"

" _OOO~, someone's cranky today._ "

The annoyed teen growled in the back of his throat, prompting the two voices to shut up and leave him be. Danny sighed as silence enveloped his form and he slumped again, having stiffened up at the sound of the other two boys' voices giving him suggestions for his current predicament. He didn't want them, though. He just wanted to be left alone with nothing but his untainted thoughts as company.

Time slipped by and Danny tried his best to shield himself from the cold. However, it only gnawed away at him and his thin clothing. His shuddering increased and the teen's teeth chattered incessantly. Danny's knees hurt tremendously with the amount of times they clacked against each other on accident while he shivered. The cold made his entire body ache hollowly, despite his limbs slowly going numb.

The other two voices piped up a few times and, as the time began to pass, the two's arguments became worries. They were suggesting that Danny do something about his situation. They suggested letting one of them take over his body so they could do something, allowing him to rest in the process, or even just suggesting that the teen escape to his mindscape so Danny, in the least, wouldn't be suffering.

Danny refused their attempts, telling them to shut up and go away repeatedly. They always went away at his irritable voice but they came back, each time quicker than the last. The two seemed to genuinely care about his situation, though Danny knew better. It was just how the two were and it was ingrained in their nature.

When Danny finally went completely numb and shivered only out of habit, he wondered when the two were going to surface again. It had been one of the longer periods of silence and that usually meant bad things for them. It meant the personalities were arguing over something serious or they were negotiating; both were terrible in their own right.

The teen soon received his answer when he felt the two voices surface again and gasped when he felt them clinging to his mind-self, pulling him into oblivion. While they dragged him farther into the oblivion that was his mindscape, Danny's mind-self screamed, "Hey! Let me go! I don't want this! LET ME GO!"

" _Sorry pipsqueak. You don't want our help; fine with us. That doesn't mean we're going to give up._ "

"Much to my dismay, I have to agree with the loose wildfire."

" _Hey! Don't call me that!_ "

Danny ignored them as he struggled against their invisible grasps, withering around as they dragged him deeper into his mindscape. The teen yelped as he was tossed onto a light grey rug and laughing met his ears as his glaring expression rose to meet two other faces, both of which looked exactly like his. One was smiling sheepishly at him while the other outright laughed at his ungraceful landing. Danny huffed as he pushed himself up, brushing off invisible dust from his arms.

The first boy had stark, subdued white hair and had the same light-blue eyes the original Danny had. He wore Water Tribe clothes, all dressed up in blues, grays, and browns. His short-sleeved, blue shirt with white borders was a common style among the waterbenders, as was the grey, long-sleeved shirt underneath. Navy pants were tucked into furry, brown boots and white bandages wrapped around the boy's hands protectively.

The second boy wasn't anything like the first. He had inky, black hair that was a mess on top of his hair. His eyes were a soul-piercing red. The teen wore a simple, sleeveless, black top and the same colored trousers that pooled around his ankles. A sleeveless, red robe with a low collar was wrapped around the boy's frame, the ends stopping at his knees.

The two were exact opposites in every way, not just appearances. The blue-clad one was calm and collected, sympathetic and easy-going. The one dressed in red had sparkling eyes and a sinister smile; never-ending energy radiated off him in waves.

Even so, Danny knew them both rather well. Despite initial appearances, the kindlier of the two, the one with blue eyes, could become as coldhearted as the ice he could control and the red-eyed one could still within an instant and settle anyone's fears at ease with a few calming words.

Though either of the two instances was rare, Danny had seen both of them in action. They had been eye-opening experiences and were spectacular, making Danny appreciate the two in ways he never would've imagined.

The two beings were standing in their parts of the mindscape, as was Danny. All three were stuck in a circular room that was divided into three even parts. There were invisible lines on the ground that separated the three boys from each other and their sections of the room were decorated and adorned in their own designs.

The red-eyed one stood on blackened wood, soot scattered around the planks messily. The walls were grey, the outlines of mountains painted across the surface. More soot streaked the surface and fires blazed from lanterns hanging from the uneven ceiling. There was a hammock hanging in the middle of the room and a plush chair off to the side. A door stood in the very back of the boy's section of the room but frosty ice covered the handle, preventing any way to open it.

The white-haired teen stood on soft, green grass, instead of any normal flooring for a room. There was a trench along the back wall that was painted a bright, inviting blue. The light came from soft lanterns attached to the walls above a narrow, comfy bed. The blue-eyed boy's section of the room also had a door in the back but bright, glaring flames had engulfed the knob, making it impossible to leave the room without burning yourself.

Compared to the other two's, Danny place was considered simple. He had a simple grey rug under his feet. There was a cot pushed up against the back wall with a wooden chair set in the middle of the room, facing the other two. Light came from torches blazing along the wall. Danny had a door as well but the handle was free of any elements that may have surrounded it.

A frown settling firmly on his face, Danny glared at the two beings in his mind. Though he was secretly relieved to not feel any of the cold anymore, it didn't mean he wanted to be with the two figures. They were both irritating as hell and they really only wanted to be able to keep the teen's body for themselves (which Danny could understand, though he hated to admit it; it must be irritating to be trapped in another's mind all the time).

"I'm leaving." Danny said before turning around, stalking towards the door as his black and white robes whirled around him. The boy stopped when he heard the two both instantly moan, pleading with him not to go. Growling, the teen whirled around and snarled, "Well why not?! I don't appreciate being dragged here, you know!"

"We were just trying to help you!" The red-clad one yelled back, half-turning so Danny could see his profile. The crimson-eyed boy waved his hand in the air, as if dismissing a small child throwing a tantrum. "You wouldn't let me solve the problem so Snowflake and I had to improvise! At least you're not shivering your ass off anymore, you ungrateful brat."

The blue-eyed one sighed miserably, rolled his eyes, and reached up to rub his face. After casting a glare at his red-eyed counterpart, the boy said, "Well, he could've said it a lot nicer than he did but that's pretty much the gist of our actions. Is it so bad we just wanted to lessen your suffering?"

Danny started laughing at the blue-clad boy's words, earning two confused looks from the beings, before he stopped abruptly with a shocked look on his face. "Oh wait, you were serious."

"Uh, _duh_." The blue-eyed, white-haired one said with a deadpan look gracing his features. The teen crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

The red-clad one put his fists on his hips and cocked his head to the side. An irritated frown had twisted onto his lips and his red eyes sparked dangerously. Tendrils of fire sparked around his fingertips. "What are you getting at?"

The teen that had unwillingly been dragged into the depths of his mind only glared at the red-eyed being. His arms stayed stubbornly crossed over his chest as he leveled the other's stare. Danny smirked and responded, "You know exactly what I mean. We know what I am, who I am. You two are complete mysteries though. We have no idea if you guys are lost spirits, different versions of me, or something else entirely! We know what happens to me when I die but what about you two? Do you go to another body or do you simply fade from existence? You guys don't care about me or, at least, not entirely. You're just watching out for your own existence. Come on, Blaze. You told me so yourself in the beginning and it's not like Tide to lie."

The red-eyed boy, Blaze, growled at the black and white clothed boy before yelling, "That's _so_ not true! We were _so_ worried about your well-being, you worthless piece of crap! Right, Snowflake?!"

The white-haired boy, Tide, raised an eyebrow at the other bender. His arms were crossed over his chest and a frown played on his lips, a little like Danny. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else at the moment as he said, "I'd help you but lying is pointless. You did yell our intentions at him the first time you became irritated with him."

"DUDE! What the hell?! You're supposed to be helping me because it helps you!"

"What's the point? He knows when we're lying to him. Continuing to state that we don't have any personal agendas just makes us look like douche-bags."

"Which you two are anyways." Danny interjected, smiling smugly at Blaze as the other's hands burst into flames. The firebender growled when Danny followed up his last statement with, "Just saying."

"I'm killing him!"

"If you did that, you would essentially be killing yourself and me." Tide stated, rolling his eyes at the furious teen boy in the next section over.

Blaze pointed at the waterbender to his side, hands still engulfed in flames, and shouted, "That's not a proven fact! We don't know what happens to us when that piece of shit over there dies! For all we know, we get our own bodies! How about we test that theory, huh?!"

Tide glared at the firebender and his fists clenched by his sides. The water in the trench behind him rippled and trembled, reacting to the teen's desires but waiting to be outright called before leaving its spot. Tide growled, trying to resist calling the water to his side, and yelled, "That's exactly my point! If we test anything, we could be destroyed, you psychotic bastard! You want out so bad you don't think! But, oh wait, that's typical!"

"And you're so cautious you don't try anything at all! You're a complete dud! Where's your sense of adventure?!"

"Where's your _common sense_?!"

Danny rolled his blue eyes and sighed quietly as the two stood awfully close to the invisible barrier separating their sides of the room, leaning forward as they yelled over each other. Blaze's hands still had flames circling them and the water from the trenches had formed whips around Tide, still rippling heatedly.

The teen's eyes found the door in the back of the room. Without a word and without being noticed by the two yelling boys, Danny casually walked over, grabbed the knob, turned, and opened the door. He walked through the opening without a second thought, ignoring how the two benders behind him gave indignant cries after him. White light appeared around him before it drained away, leaving Danny to blink his vision into focus back in the Northern Water Tribe's prison cell.

The freezing cold hit Danny like a Fire Nation warship at full speed. His still body was overcome with violent shudders and his teeth chattered again incessantly, his relaxed jaw instantly clenching up. All his aches from the cold came back to him again, making his head spin with the sheer amount of new ones that had arisen in the short time he had been pulled into his mind unwillingly. It made Danny half-wish he had stayed with the two irritating benders yelling inside his mindscape.

The teen's attention was drawn to someone who yelped and jumped a few feet away from him. Turning his head, Danny instantly came to face a brown-haired girl heavily clothed in warm, thick clothing. Her long hair was tied back at the nape of her neck but two strands hung down in her face before being pulled back. A blanket was lying by her feet, having previously been held in her hands. Her blue eyes were widened in shock.

Behind her and at the now-open cell opening, a boy with an arrow on his head, a girl that appeared to be blind, another teen boy that had an uncanny resemblance to the brunette girl, and an adult the teen had never seen before stared at Danny with wide eyes. The group was completely shocked out of their minds and the teen couldn't figure out why.

"H-H-Hah-Hi?" Danny stuttered, eyes darting to the blanket on the floor before quickly finding the brunette's blue eyes again. He tried to ignore the way his breathes came out in puffs, reminding him just how cold it was at the North Pole when the numbing cold around him didn't.

Everyone snapped to attention again and the girl quickly bent down to retrieve the blanket again. "S-Sorry! Sorry! You just scared us! A minute ago, you were barely moving! If we didn't see you breathing, we would've thought you dead. Here's a blanket. More are on the way and we're going to set a fire up in here for you. You must be numb by now."

Danny would've mumbled a thank you but he couldn't get his lips to move again. He barely had enough mobility to move his arms to snatch the blanket from the girl's hands and he had to have the fluffy, cozy blanket wrapped around him by the brunette to get covered since his arms refused to work with his demands. Under the thick fur blanket, Danny still shivered uncontrollably and thought about the girl's last statement. He should've known the unresponsive state he was enveloped in when he was in his mindscape would've scared her and her friends.

The adult of the group stepped forward. He, too, was brunette and wore thick, dark blue clothing that was perfect for the weather of the North Pole; it was something Danny envied about him. The man said, "I am deeply sorry that my men did not take care of you better. As you have probably figured out, the prison is not something we use often."

Oh, so _he_ was the chief of the tribe. Wasn't that just fantastic?

The ebony-haired teen, again, wanted to retort with something snide but his teeth wouldn't stop chattering long enough for him to speak. So, instead, Danny focused on keeping his hands around the edges of the blanket to keep it around his shaking shoulders. They seemed to be slipping and, though the first girl was still sitting behind him, he was scared the blanket would slip off him anyways and leave him to freeze.

"What are you doing up so far north without proper clothing anyway?" The brunette boy, the one who looked similar to the brunette girl, questioned, raising a suspicious eyebrow at the ebony-haired boy.

The blind girl dressed in green hmphed. "Yeah. It seems like an idiotic thing to do, don't you think?"

This made the boy that had spoken first laugh, earning dirty looks from the boy with the tattoos and the girl that had given the freezing boy a blanket. The chief only rolled his eyes and sighed. Danny glared as well, even though he was unable to speak. However, it only made the brown-haired boy laugh harder, seeing as it was the only thing that Danny could do.

The boy with the tattoos sighed at his friends' antics before smiling at the shivering teen on the ground. "Sorry about Sokka. He's much nicer when you get to know him…most of the time."

"WHAT?!"

A small, smug grin twitched at the corner's of Danny's lips as the boy, Sokka, gave an indignant cry at his friend's afterthought. Everyone completely ignored him, however, except for the girl in green, who smirked and snorted at the accurate statement. The boy with the tattoos only smiled more at the shivering teen on the ground and continued, "I'm Aang. That's Toph, Katara, and Chief Arnook."

Tattoo-boy, or Aang, gestured to each person as he said their name and, once he finished, only smiled brightly at the captured teen. He sure was a happy person.

Danny struggled to still his chattering teeth. It took a minute or two but he managed to stutter his name before his jaw began the incessant clacking again. Aang smiled at him and the teen could feel Katara do the same but everyone else stayed perfectly neutral. After all, he was still a prisoner and they shouldn't be getting buddy-buddy with him.

"Once you can get your limbs to work properly again, we plan on questioning you. Understood?" Chief Arnook said, all earlier apologies laid to rest.

The teen managed a small nod and an irritated look at the man, though he received a glare in return. The chief of the tribe left just after speaking to the ebony-haired boy, leaving the teens alone. Sokka and Toph attempted to interrogate him themselves but both Aang and Katara said he was too out of it to say anything. No one noticed the eye-roll Danny gave them.

Eventually, a fire was set up in the middle of the room, as well as a thin, narrow cot that reminded Danny of the one he had set up in his mindscape. He was given proper clothing for the time and merely put them over his grey robes, frowning at the blue color but not complaining either. A few more thick, fur blankets were also given up and Danny curled up on the cot near the fire, ignoring the other teens still chatting around him. Why they stayed, he didn't know.

The shivers racking his body didn't disappear immediately, despite the warmth that practically burned his skin. They eased off slowly and Danny forced his muscles to relax, despite how hard it was to actually do so. Everything wanted to stay clenched up and it was causing all his aches to feel worse. Much to his intense relief, though, the aches were starting to disappear with his shivering.

Without realizing it, Danny's eyes drifted closed and his breathing deepened. With only small shivers taking his body every few minutes and feeling so relaxed, the boy was out within a few seconds. The other teenagers didn't notice Danny's unconscious state until Aang, in the middle of a sentence, turned to him and his mouth shut with a _clack_.

Katara and Sokka immediately turned to look at the boy and Toph, unable to see what the big deal was, irritably asked, "What?"

"Danny's asleep." The Avatar answered, turning to look at his green-clad friend with a smile. He shrugged at her, despite her inability to see the gesture, and turned back to look at the slumbering teen again.

Sokka whined and a frown twisted on his lips. "Aw man! I wanted to question him! I was so looking forward to that~!"

"You could always wake him up." Toph suggested casually before a sinister grin began twisting on her lips. The earthbender's friends could see the gears turning in her head, her fingers twitching in a way that signaled she was about to do something rather cruel. Sokka seemed to be thinking about the idea himself.

The waterbender of the group jumped over to Toph, placing a hand on her shoulder with an uneasy smile and a nervous laugh. "Ok, enough of that! We're not waking Danny up. After almost freezing to death, I think we should let him rest. It'll be good for him and we can question when he wakes up. He'll probably be much more lucid after a good rest anyways."

Toph grumbled and Sokka pouted. Aang smiled fondly and shook his head at the two crazies of the group. With a small laugh, he said, "Come on. Let's get out of here. I'm starving!"

Everyone voiced their agreements and they left the cell. Katara bended the water around her into bars across the cell opening before freezing them. Afterwards, they left the prison area entirely and wandered off to their temporary residence as the sun finished setting in the distance, where they were going to gorge themselves after a long day of traveling and taking care of prisoners.

However, back in the prison cell, Danny's eyes opened again and a smirk played on his lips. He sat up, letting his legs dangle over the side of the cot and hit the ground. The teen stood up, looked around the cell with an intense stare, and then looked down at what he was wearing. His expression morphed into disgust. "Ew, blue. That's Snowflake's color, not mine." With a sigh, he muttered, "Oh well. Don't wanna freeze like the sleeping moron did."

Rubbing his hands together, Danny- correction, _Blaze_ -brought his cupped hands to his mouth and blew on them. A weak stream of fire blew from his lips and lit up the dark space between his palms. It died within seconds and the teen dropped his hands, walking over to the newly placed ice bars. Blue eyes scanned them over before his hands burst into flames and he held them up, intensifying the heat and melting the bars within minutes.

The ebony-haired teen stepped out of the cell, ignoring how some of the still intact bars dripped around him. He carefully moved down the hallway that didn't look like a dead-end and Blaze smirked when he found the exit. He slipped out carefully, looking every which way in the dark for guards or citizens. Much to his delight, everyone seemed to be off somewhere else, which allowed him to sneak through the city and towards the walls.

Blaze had almost snuck out before he cursed. "Damn it! I forgot! They have Danny's stuff and I don't know where they took it."

The firebender rushed back to the prison and rummaged through all the rooms and cells inside. He found the large sack filled to the brim with different tools and knick-knacks in a room far in the back in a locker of sorts. Blaze rifted through it, mentally reciting an imaginary check-list that went over all the things the sack contained. When he was finished, he was satisfied with what was inside and quickly slipped it over his shoulders, putting the backpack on. Just as he was about to leave, he heard echoing down the hall, "The prisoner has escaped! The prisoner has escaped!"

"Shit!" Blaze muttered before turning towards the window. He slammed against the ice bars and fell out into the street. The ruckus alerted the guards to his spot but the firebender was up and running before they could make it to the room. However, that didn't deter the guards at all and they rushed after the running teen, jumping through the window themselves.

People came from their houses to see the commotion going on as the guards yelled after the escaping firebender. The waterbenders began trying to stop the teen with their element but he only laughed cruelly, shooting flames from his hands and knocking everyone out of the way. More screams of uproar rose from the crowd.

"He's a firebender! Be careful! We need to take him out! He's a firebender!"

The firebender laughed again, wishing he could set fire to the ground. It was too wet though and he had to settle for shooting the fire from his hands and letting it fly around his body in the form of a shield from the water. None of the waterbenders were prepared for the fire that swept through the Water Tribe streets. With this advantage, Blaze made quick work of getting to the city walls and he closed in on them quickly.

However, a hundred feet from the wall, something swept down in front of the firebender and stopped Blaze in his tracks. In the moonlight, the firebender could make out the form of Aang standing like a mountain in his spot, unmoving. His eyes were narrowed into an angry glare and his mouth twisted into a frown, fist clenching his staff furiously.

"You're not going anywhere, Danny. I'm taking you back to your cell now." Aang said firmly, believing wholeheartedly in his statement.

Flames wrapped around Blaze's hands threateningly and lit up his face, expression drawn into sick amusement. His ebony-hair looked like it was streaked with blood, the light shining just the right way. His blue orbs sparked and the image of a flame reflected off the surface of his eyes. His stance was ready for any attack the other boy would throw. With a chuckle, Blaze replied, "We'll see about that, kid."

"Blaze, I'm going to kill you when this is over!"

In the next second, Blaze gasped and the flames died around his hands. His amused expression twisted into minor pain and shock. His breath caught in his throat and his chest felt like it was collapsing in on itself. His limbs trembled violently as the sinister spark vanished from the boy's eyes, leaving the orbs looking rather dead and glassy.

It was over within a second and a worried but determined flash lit up in the blue orbs. The teen's fists clenched by his sides and he took a deep breath of fresh air, expanding his lungs again. Easy puffs of air appeared in front of the teen's mouth as his trembling ceased completely, leaving him a completely changed person in the wake of Blaze's sudden collapse.

The transition happened within seconds, just enough time for Aang to suddenly use his staff to throw a strong blast of air at the boy standing opposite of him.

Right before it could hit him, a wall of water rose up in front of Tide and the strong blast caused the water to explode around the two beings. Aang was quick to follow it up with more blasts of air, as well as throwing in the other elements at Tide whenever he felt it was right.

Tide quickly came to realize Aang was the frikkin Avatar and cursed Blaze in his head more for getting them in such a terrible situation. He blocked all the attacks he could with ice and water, ignoring the way Blaze was arrogantly saying he could take the smaller boy on without a problem and the shrieks of fury Danny was throwing at both of them, having just awakened from his slumber. It didn't take long for him to realize his body was being controlled by someone other than him.

To make matters worse for the waterbender, the guards from the prison had joined the fight with the Avatar. Aang's friends were not far behind and Tide was barely able to keep up with their attacks, shielding himself with water and ice. He barely got a few attacks in here and there, knocking out people for only a few seconds before they were rejoining the fight a second later.

Blaze and Danny weren't being any help at all, either.

" _Come on, Snowflake! Let me out of here! You know I'm a better fighter than both of you!_ "

" _Shut up, Blaze! We shouldn't be in this fight at all! We were fine where we were! Tide, I want my body back NOW!_ "

The waterbender ducked under a flying rock and raised a water shield in front of him to stop an oncoming attack made of fire. "Sorry Danny! I can't yet. If I let you take control now, you'll be pummeled within seconds!"

" _I don't care! I'm_ sick _of you and Blaze taking control behind my back! You two always make everything worse! I'd rather be in control and beaten to death than let you two take the wheel! NOW GIVE ME BACK MY BODY!_ "

Tide gasped as the same sensations Blaze had felt swept over him like a tidal wave as Danny wrenched control from the waterbender. The ebony-haired teen was back in control of himself within moments and the water Tide had been controlling lifelessly fell from the air and crashed on the ground. Without any form of protection from the elements and having no weapons on him, everything being thrown at the teen hit him within seconds. Danny flew back and skidded across the snowy ground. Ice-cold water drenched him, rocks pelted his form, and fire burned his skin. He bit his tongue, though, and didn't yell, scream, or complain. After all, he was in control. It's what he wanted.

The barrage went on for a moment before Aang's voice called, "Stop! He's down! You'll kill him if you keep attacking!"

Danny groaned as he laid on his side in the wet snow. The freezing cold was biting at his skin again but he was still wearing the thick clothes of the Water Tribe. It was drenched, of course, but it still helped fight off the wind, if only a little.

Before the teen could get up, the end of Aang's staff was pointed at Danny's throat in a silent threat. The teen's blue eyes drifted up to meet Aang's angry, coal-black eyes bearing down on him from above. The younger boy questioned calmly but dangerously, "How can you bend both fire and water?"

The downed boy chuckled hollowly and gave a cold smile up at the boy standing above him. "I can't bend."

The waterbending guards were on Danny in an instant after the Avatar asked the question, tying his hands behind his back and taking away his possessions. They dragged him to his feet, ignoring how Danny hissed in pain at some of the bruises blossoming on his skin and under his clothes. They began dragging him towards a large building on top of a hill as a crowd gathered around them, following the group towards the structure.

Danny refused to struggle or fight like the red-eyed figure in his head told him to, not interested in getting away. He didn't see a need and he knew it was a worthless attempt to try and slip away anyways. He was surrounded by members of the Water Tribe, the Avatar, and the Avatar's group of friends. Besides, he had rather liked his gig back in the prison.

The large group of people climbed the steps to the foreboding structure and they all herded in after finishing the climb. Danny was pushed towards the front, where the chief and the waterbending master were sitting on a platform that rose above the rest of the crowd. Pakku looked about as un-amused as he always did and the chief looked absolutely furious at the unforeseen turn of events that had happened in quick succession.

Aang and his group of friends stood near the platform, Danny noticed, but didn't move to stand on it. It surprised him that they didn't consider themselves so high-ranked but didn't bother to ponder it further. He had other problems to deal with. He could thank a few certain benders for that.

That reminded him of something. Neither Blaze nor Tide had said anything to him, which was unusual. It was times like these he couldn't get either of them to shut up. It was rather nice to not have to deal with them while he dealt with something else that was much more pressing, though it also scared him a little. What were they doing, if not pestering him about letting them get him out of his position?

Danny was pushed onto his knees in front of the platform and one of the guards yanked his hair, making his head look up at the chief. Once again, he refused to make a noise of discomfort and tried to glare at the guard holding his black hair so tightly. His actions weren't needed. Danny was fine facing off the chief of the Water Tribe. He didn't need anyone forcing him to do anything.

Chief Arnook stood from his spot and walked to the edge of the platform he was standing on, glaring down at the teen kneeling before him. He didn't like the way the teen scowled irritably up at him. He wanted to wipe the look off the other's face but resisted the temptation. Instead, he said, "You haven't been violent at all up until this point, not even the first time we captured you as you tried to steal from one of the shops. Why attack now?"

"I'd answer that but you wouldn't believe. So what's the point?" Danny retorted, raising an eyebrow up at the chief. After all, the only ones who ever did believe him were his two mentors after he was separated from his parents. Why would these people even _want_ to believe anything he had to say?

The Water Tribe chief narrowed his eyes further at the boy. "Try me."

The teen shrugged. "Alright, fine. It wasn't me."

Everyone in the room actually _laughed_ at him and his poor excuse, making the teen's cheeks redden as he frowned. Danny knew it was ridiculous to be embarrassed about the truth but he always forgot how ridiculous and delusional he sounded when he spoke aloud about the two beings in his head.

" _Ah, don't listen to them, little brat. They don't know what they're getting into._ "

"I hate to agree with the wildfire but I have to this time around."

Danny was a little taken back by Blaze's sympathetic and calming tone and Tide's bitter and aggravated one. More often than not, it was the other way around but, under unpredictable circumstances, their attitudes had a tendency to change on him. It was…nice when they did it, in a weird way.

As he calmed, Chief Arnook gave the flustered teen a ruthful smile. "Mind telling us the truth, son?"

"I'm not your son." Danny snapped before he could stop himself. A glare directed itself at the Water Tribe chief, followed by an irritated huff. Blue eyes sparked dangerously and Danny could feel the guard behind him tightening his hold on his hair in warning. He wished he cared.

Chief Arnook was not pleased with the teen's sudden snap and he questioned, "Well, whose son are you? That's the mystery, is it not? You magically appear out of nowhere, wearing colors that say you are not from any nation, and display abilities only the Avatar can possess. Who are you, boy?"

With his glare still intact on his face, the teen said, "I am Danny. I don't belong to any nation. My parents are Maddie, a firebender, and Jack, a waterbender, and my sister is Jasmine, though I have no idea where they are now. I am a nomad and I came to the Water Tribe _on accident_. I'm not a bender and I don't want to be. Like everyone else, you won't believe me when I tell you there are two other people in my head. One's a waterbender named Tide and the other is a firebender named Blaze. They take control of my body whenever they can and, though they irritate me in ways unimaginable, they're my only companions."

"I noticed he didn't say 'friends.'"

" _Well, we're not, exactly."_

Danny ignored the two and continued, "When I was eleven, I became separated from my family during our travels. I was mentored by two men for awhile, both of whom believed I could do a whole plethora of things I had no interest in. Instead, I wanted to find out more about myself and the things I was interested in. They were ok with this and sent me on my way.

"It was barely a week into my travels that I accidently tripped and sent myself rolling down a hill. My head slammed into a rock and, after that, Blaze and Tide appeared. They've been with me ever since.

"How I got here is actually really simple. I stole a boat, planning to head a little farther north than I was used to, and got caught in a storm. I was blown way off course and drifted for the longest time before showing up on the coast a ways east from here. You caught me stealing from that shop because I really wanted some better clothes.

"You don't have to believe my story. I don't care if you think I'm delusional or crazy or a liar. Just don't expect me to give you another story." Danny finished, letting his glare melt away into a neutral expression. He relaxed on his knees and felt the guard behind him loosen his grip on his black locks.

" _…I can't believe he just gave a quick story of his life._ "

"It was more of a summary of the highlights of his life but I feel the same."

" _It wasn't a secret._ " Danny hushed, mentally rolling his eyes in mild irritation. " _I've just never had to tell it before. I wouldn't have had to either, if Blaze hadn't decided to go rogue on us._ "

" _If Frosty hadn't decided to take control, we would've been out of here already!_ "

"If you hadn't taken control of Danny's body, we wouldn't have gotten in trouble at all, you idiot!"

Chief Arnook wasn't amused by the teen's story at all and looked far from believing it. He shook his head and asked, "Why must you tell us such ridiculous lies if you know we won't believe it?"

Toph surprised everyone by saying, "He's not lying."

Danny had hardly registered his surprise at the proclamation from the girl when Sokka yelled, " _WHAT?!_ You believe him?! That story of his is total ludicrous! Did you hear him?! He says there are benders in his head that take control of his body! Your lie-detecting abilities are way off this time- OW!"

Sokka reached up to rub his sore head as Toph's eye twitched in irritation. Her fist stayed clenched by her side, should the brown-haired boy decide to interrupt her as she said, "I said he _didn't lie_ , not that he told the truth, idiot! He really believes his own story, which isn't lying, but he's not telling the truth either."

" _Hehe, I like this girl._ "

Tide sighed. "Of course you would. You're a wildfire and she's a loose cannon. Perfect match."

" _I am not a wildfire! I'm so in control!_ "

"You believe that but it's not the truth."

" _SHUT UP, SNOWFLAKE._ "

The ebony-haired teen sighed quietly while shaking his head. He told the two not-so-nicely to take their conversation elsewhere so he could focus on the problem they had wrapped him up in.

Katara stepped between her brother and the earthbender with an exasperated look, keeping the two apart so no more violence could occur. "Alright, you two. That's enough."

"Sokka, why don't you believe him?" Aang asked, sending another shock through the crowd at his words. Danny, blue eyes wide, stared the oblivious Avatar down with an anxious expression. He hardly noticed that the guard had let go of his hair, his muscles having gone slack throughout the conversation taking place.

The brown-haired teen turned to face the younger boy and yelled, " _You_ believe him?!"

Aang shrugged. "Why not? We all thought metalbending was a myth but Toph proved that it was possible. Same with bloodbending. Who knows what other seemingly impossible things can become possible under the right circumstances?"

The three others of the group looked at each other, remembering the instances where they were suddenly able to do things no one else could. The waterbender turned her head back to her friend, however, and said, "We see your point, Aang, but the only one that's able to control all four elements is you, the Avatar."

"Didn't you hear him?" Aang asked, a small smile gracing his face. "He's not the one bending. It's the other two, Blaze and Tide, that are the ones bending. They're just using his body to do so. In some ways, his situation reminds me of the Avatar State. My past lives are in my head with me. It's just…well…they don't take over my body and stay with me when we're done with the job." Aang turned his head to smile at the tied up boy. "It sounds like Tide and Blaze are with you all the time."

"Yeah and they never shut up." Danny responded, smiling back humorously.

" _I RESENT THAT, YOU LITTLE MONSTER!_ "

"Well, he's not wrong..!"

" _Don't help him, Puddle-Boy!_ "

"Really? Puddle-Boy? That's the best you could do?"

" _You know what you need, Snowflake? A high-five! In the face. With a chair._ "

"Too bad you can't touch me."

" _Don't remind me!_ "

Aang walked over to stand in front of the kneeling boy and untied his wrists. By the looks of the chief, he really didn't want Danny free and thought the boy was going to suddenly go rogue on them again. However, the dark-haired teen only stood up, rubbed his wrists, gave a grateful smile to the Avatar, and mumbled, "Thanks."

"No problem. I think you're trustworthy, even if no one else does." Aang said, beaming up at the taller boy. The blind trust he was radiating made Danny beam back, having never met anyone so open with their feelings before. The young Avatar even seemed to be extending a small form of friendship.

"Thanks…again." Danny mumbled stupidly, shrugging his shoulders awkwardly. He ignored Blaze's teasing voice in his head and Tide' voice irritably saying something along the lines of 'good God, he's not even paying attention; shut up already.' It started a whole new argument for the two but Danny had his focus solely on Aang. "Why do you trust me so much? Everyone else thinks I'm completely nuts."

Aang only shrugged. "I have a feeling you'd make a really good friend."

"…you too."

* * *

 **I thought I was going to do a regular old element too but then I found this power instead and went with it. I liked it better than anything I had before. XD And that ending irritates me but I have no patience to deal with it right now. Or ever. So I'm just gonna roll with it. *thumbs up* Water and Fire will get their own chapters, too, but I added them here so this superpower wouldn't look like a glorified case of MPD or possession. XD**

 **Alright, this one goes out to Kinzy, who's had a crappy week and has been dying for me to go with this! Love you girlie, no matter how much we release rabid, assassins squirrels on each other. XD**

 **For those of you who have put in suggestions, I am getting there. I've been extremely lazy lately and I know exactly why, so it's ok. Oh, and I'm gonna turn the Godzilla chap into an actual story because I'm currently in love with the idea. Hehe. ^^**

 **Thanks to these people for favoriting/following:** ** _Clancy1018, DC-Hannah Falls, Atlanticfire._**

 **Guest Reviews:**

 **Guest(1)(from ch.6): Haha, we'll see. There's other fandoms I'm currently looking into, X-Men among them. ^^**

 **Secretwhovianpon: Glad you liked it. XD And thanks for the suggestions but I really don't need that many! I've already got, like, a thousand different ideas and 90% of the things you suggested I didn't know existed. Why you would ever think I would write for the abomination TTG is beyond me (good gosh, that's such an abomination) and if I did anything with Naria, it'd have to be the movies since I haven't read the books, nor will I for a long time (if ever; got about 20 other books I've gotta read first).**


	9. Umbrakinesis

**Danny Phantom/Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children trilogy. (Requested by Chise Sakamoto.** **)(Take places in the middle of the first book, as Jacob, Emma, Horace, Bronwyn, and Millard are heading to the beach.)**

* * *

Ch.9: Umbrakinesis

Huddling in the bushes with the others, I could feel myself making that stereotypical anime sweat-drop thing as I watched the strange boy talk to the large oak tree only twenty yards from us. None of us were making any attempt at really concealing ourselves with the shrubbery; however, we'd been standing here for a good twenty minutes, and the ebony-haired boy had yet to catch even a whisper of us. He just kept jabbering on, talking to the tree loudly, apparently hearing replies because he never seemed to shut up for long.

"Is this guy for real?" I mumbled, my eyes swiveling over to look at the others watching with me. They looked about as exasperated as I did, ready to throw themselves from a cliff to ease their apparent suffering. I'm sure if Enoch were here, he'd have quite a few choice words to say, though I think Emma was on the verge of saying them in his absence. I muttered, "Millard, do you know anything about him?"

Our invisible friend hummed a note, stating all he knew in that simple sound before he said, "No. He's not a part of this loop. If you look close, he's even wearing clothes that look a lot like yours, Jacob."

Well, Millard wasn't wrong about that, though I didn't want to admit it. The boy with the black hair- who was probably only a few years younger than I was, lingering around fourteen or fifteen -wore a plain, white t-shirt with red borders and a crimson oval in the center of his chest, a sleeveless, red vest over the shirt. His jeans were dark-wash, stopping at the base of his red converses. His blue eyes were locked on the large oak as he begged something or someone to "come out" because "I don't want to be alone." His lips were turned into a pout, crystalline eyes big and watery with unshed tears. However, the someone or thing- which was more than likely imaginary -refused to do as he stated.

"I don't get it though." I whispered to the others, who all looked over at me with interest. The beginnings of a frown were playing on the edges of my lips as I thought back to the few residents on Cainholm, none of them being this delusional kid. Still, how else could he have possibly have gotten here? There was only one entrance to this loop. Turning back to the others, I told them this, which made them mirror my sour expression.

Emma especially didn't seem to like what I told them. The 'Girl on Fire' asked, "Are you sure he's not a visitor or a resident in the town in your time? Maybe you just missed him or something. Like you said, there's only one entrance to this loop."

My expression was undoubtedly deadpan as I thought about how many residents there were on Cainholm. If I wanted to, I could probably list them all. I expressed this as bluntly as I could: "Oh yeah. I'm sure I'd remember this nut-bag."

"Come on guys!" The boy whined again, stomping his foot and crossing his arms over his chest. I couldn't believe I had seen that move for a moment though. It was something you'd see a small child do. I didn't know any teenagers that'd ever stoop so low for something so stupid. Still, the ebony-haired teen hardly seemed to care. "You guys can't hide in there forever! Actually, maybe you can… But still, you can't just leave me hanging like this! Please come out!"

Another pause, followed by more pleads and immature behavior. The rest of us just watched stupidly, not quite grasping how terribly undeveloped this guy was until he continued to mimic the unhappy gestures of a four-year-old. He stomped his feet, swayed back and forth uneasily, and pouted with big, puppy-dog eyes, hardly thinking about how bad his image would be, should someone come across him- which had already happened. I would've thought that maybe it was for attention, but the teen really did seem like he was actually having a conversation with the tree. And that was deeply concerning.

"I'm gonna go talk to this guy." Emma stated. Before anybody could stop her, she walked through the bushes without a second thought, calling, "Hey! You! How the heck did you find this place?"

Horace, to my shock, actually facepalmed, mumbling some choice words under his breath that I never thought would come from his mouth, seeing as he acted and dressed like he was going to see the Queen of England 24/7. Bronwyn was right behind Emma, ready to defend but exasperated as well. As for Millard… I wasn't too sure what expression he wore, seeing as he was permanently invisible, but I'm sure I heard flesh coming into contact with more flesh before his hat began drifting into the clearing with the others. I followed behind them, shocked to see all of them ganging up on this boy when he didn't know they were peculiar.

However, the strange boy didn't seem to be surprised or embarrassed at the sudden appearance of our small group. He merely looked our way, smiled, and waved in a friendly way as he saw us approaching. Emma's determined and intimidating expression didn't faze him in the least, and neither did the floating hat in the middle of the clearing, Horace's get-up, or Bronwyn's clenched fists. He just greeted, "Hello there~! I didn't know anyone was around!"

Which was shocking, seeing as we hadn't been taking any effort to camouflage ourselves. The most we had done was whisper while we all stood stupidly behind a bush half our height.

Emma didn't show any outward sign that she was perturbed by this boy's exceptional cheeriness. She planted her palms on her hips, standing rather tall to, hopefully, intimidate the boy into submission. She ignored how the black-haired boy continued to smile and wave, harshly stating, "You didn't answer my question. How did you find this place?"

"Um…" The boy started, putting one of his hands on his hips and looking up to the sky. His free-hand tapped his chin, and, if anyone had made such a move, the cheesy motion would've looked forced. However, the gesture was completely natural on the boy. "Well, I ended up on some island after getting lost in shadow land again, and I saw that guy over there-" He pointed at me, and his voice suddenly picked up in speed suddenly. "-walking somewhere, so I followed. He disappeared in a cave, and I didn't know why, so I kept following, but he wasn't anywhere in there, so I left the cave, and ended up here! Who even knows where here is though?" The boy laughed.

I glanced uneasily to my side, looking at the other's faces. I could see Emma's strong face cracking, her skin crawling from the unnatural cheeriness the black-haired boy displayed. Likewise, Horace and Bronwyn were also unnerved by the blinding, million-watt smile the boy kept shining at them. If it was possible to see him, I'm sure Millard would've been wearing a similar expression to theirs- and probably mine, as well. We just couldn't fathom why the boy was so damn chipper.

There was another laugh from the boy. He gestured to the oak tree he'd previously been talking to. "My friends came with me, but I can't get them to come out! Sorry about that. They're so shy~."

If it weren't for the dead certainty in the boy's sparkling blue eyes, we all probably would've laughed. However, the black-haired boy was so sure of what he was saying that he _almost_ had me convinced that there actually was someone around, possibly hanging out inside of the tree. Still, with the fact that there was no one else around, the boy's statement crumbled and died, leaving all of our thoughts on one thing.

This guy was _insane_.

Or, at least, he was partially. Disregarding the whole 'talking to a tree' episode, the boy seemed pretty lucid. Sure, his ability to focus and multitask could rival that of a kindergartener- seriously, how the hell did he _not_ see us behind the bush? -but he was responding to us. And he could always just be one of those people that never seemed to be affected by anything. There was a girl like that at my school. It wasn't impossible for there to be a boy with the same attitude.

However, it wasn't hard to tell that there was _something_ broken inside of his brain. Maybe it was the complete faith in his delusions that let us see it, maybe it was something about his happy, baby blue eyes that told us 'run.' Either way, there was something seriously wrong with this kid.

"So…" Bronwyn started off slowly, drawling out the word deliberately. Immediately, blue eyes swept over to meet her brown ones, the damned smile still tugging at the boy's lips. Bronwyn managed to keep her unease hidden, if she was feeling unnerved at all. "What's your name? I'm Bronwyn; that's Emma, Horace, Millard, and Jacob." Bronwyn pointed to each of us as she said our names.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you! I'm Danny. My friends are Sam and Tucker, if they'd come out already." The boy- Danny -said, turning around to face the oak tree again. His smile dropped suddenly into a disapproving frown, trying to coax his nonexistent friends out into the open. He pestered the tree again and again, trying his damn hardest to shame 'Sam' and 'Tucker' out of their hiding spot. However, only the wind answered his call, tossing the branches of the oak back and forth. The leaves rustled with the motion.

With Danny suddenly distracted, the rest of us all glanced at each other. Emma mumbled, "Who wants to get Miss P, so we can lock this guy up in the loony-bin?"

All of our hands shot to the sky. Danny was completely oblivious.

The black-haired teen suddenly gasped in excitement, making the rest of us jump. Just like a small child, Danny bounced on the balls of his feet and clapped. With a pleasantly surprised tone, Danny asked the tree, "Oh, you'll finally come out now? Really really really?"

Emma glanced at me, asking me silently if I knew what the hell was going on. I only shrugged in reply.

"Everyone, meet Sam and Tucker!" Danny announced, stepping back and gesturing towards the oak widely.

Just as he said it would be, two figures stepped silently out from behind the tree, one following after the other. The two were both nothing more than black silhouettes, flat outlines with about as much depth as a small child's scribble drawing. The only thing that set them apart was the first's pupil-less, violet eyes and the black halo around its head, looking very much like straight hair cut into a short bob. The second only had a pair of pupil-less, turquoise eyes, leaving it even less distinct than the other figure.

The two gathered on each of Danny's sides, standing very close while hiding behind each of his shoulders. Their pupil-less eyes watched us from behind the black-haired teen, curious but shy. They never blinked, and, though the two silhouettes had shocked and unnerved us, Danny was beaming in joy. The duo's act made him laugh, though I didn't see what was so amusing. Looking back over at us with happy eyes, the boy said, "Sam and Tucker are shadows. Shadows are shy. Sorry!"

As though he hadn't spoken a word, Emma looked at the other peculiar children. With a deadly serious look on her face, she stated, "We need to get Miss P."

"Miss P? Who's that?" Danny asked curiously, oblivious to Emma's obvious sudden seriousness. Without giving us a chance to answer his question, Danny said, "I wanna meet Miss P! I bet she's really nice! Or, at least, I hope she is. I've never met a Miss P before. I've met a Miss M but not a P. Hm."

"Well, why don't you come with us, so you can meet her?" Millard quickly interjected, stepping in front of Emma before she could tell this guy off. His tone was happy and light, but I knew it was all fake. However, Danny couldn't tell the difference between sincerity or an imitation, so it didn't matter either way. The suggestion made Danny's already bright eyes sparkle like firecrackers in the dead of night. He looked way too happy to be meeting someone he knew nothing about.

Behind his shoulders, the shadows' eyes seemed to glance at each other, though their featureless forms hadn't moved an inch since taking their posts behind the black-haired boy.

"Yeah! I wanna meet Miss P!" Danny repeated, beaming enthusiastically. As Horace and Bronwyn began gesturing for the boy to follow, the shadow with the turquoise leaned into Danny's ears, which caused the peculiars and I to stop. We strained to hear something, but there was nothing to be heard, not even a whisper. Still, Danny was listening to something intently, and he nodded with whatever it was in agreement. He grinned at us again before waving. "I'll meet you all there! Sam and Tucker know the way!" Danny's eyes suddenly sparkled again. "OOO, it can be a race! I'll beat you there! I will I will!"

"Wait, don't-" I started, reaching out to stop him, as if it'd make a difference. Danny merely laughed, jumped back- did he not _see_ the massive distance between us? -and waved, repeating his earlier challenge for a race. The light shadows stretched across the ground seemed to pulse and quiver. Then it was as if they opened up, for Danny began falling quickly into the ground, shrieking hysterically. 'Sam' and 'Tucker' fell at a more moderate pace, seemingly glaring at us as they fell into the light darkness, disappearing from sight.

Bronwyn, Emma, Horace, Millard, and I stood in the clearing for a long time, silent as we watched the spot Danny had disappeared into. Then Horace looked at the rest of us, asking, "Did that just happen?"

* * *

Danny followed his two friends happily and obediently, running at a leisurely place while he laughed at nothing in particular. Sam and Tucker occasionally glanced over their shoulders, just to make sure he was still right behind them. After all, it wasn't very hard to get lost, and Danny had gotten lost so many times before. It'd taken forever to track him down as he wandered around aimlessly. It'd gotten so bad that, while he'd always been desperate to escape the land of shadows in the beginning, he'd stopped getting anxious and worried. He was always laughing and smiling and acting so much like a child…

So it was no wonder to the shadow community when Sam and Tucker decided that they'd be Danny's guardians-of-sorts. After all, it was their fault they'd let Danny slip away enough times for him to lose some of his grip on reality, becoming more entwined with the shadowy land than was healthy with each time he entered.

The land around them was nothing but an endless expanse of black. Some patches were lighter than others, almost being on the verge of grey, while other spots were impossibly dark, mimicking the night sky without the stars. There were occasional flashes of all sorts of colors- brown, blue, green, a little bit of red -but they merely flickered on before snuffing out in a few seconds. The only pair of eyes that remained consistent in Danny's world were Sam's and Tucker's, who were always looking over their shoulder to make sure he was still close at their heels as they paced through the shadowy land, no _thuds_ to accompany their footfalls.

There was Danny's laughing, though. It was stupid to be laughing, but he just couldn't seem to make himself stop. He thought watching that group of teens looking so shocked was just the funniest thing ever. Danny didn't know why it tickled him so much- oh, their expressions though! -but on and on he laughed, his voice carrying through the dark expanse and disappearing far into the void.

Sam and Tucker were hardly perturbed by the childlike but unnerving mirth behind them, having long since gotten used to it. They just continued running along, peeking over their shoulders every few minutes like worried mother hens. Danny hardly seemed to notice their nervous glances, more occupied with the images replaying again and again in his head.

It was impossible to tell how long they sprinted along for, with Sam and Tucker carefully leading Danny around some invisible bend occasionally. However, fatigue never caught them in its grip. The black-haired teen's laugh was never breathless, and the two shadows were silent as ever, eyes darting from the invisible path in front of them to the giddy boy behind them.

They never seemed to get anywhere either. The long, black patches stretched, faded, and reappeared, again and again, but, without a floor or walls or any scenery, it was hard to judge if they were moving forward or backward, up or down, falling or floating. Still, the shadows' steps were certain, their turns precise. Their glowing eyes gleamed, apprehensive to arrive at their destination.

Time came and went, or maybe none passed at all. Still, the trio trekked onwards, the only sounds coming from the boy trailing behind the two shadows. Then they were slowing, slowing, slowing, stopping. Danny looked between the two shadows, both of them pointing to a lighter patch of darkness. The teen boy grinned at them and asked, "Are you guys going to come with me?"

Neither shadow moved or spoke, still pointing towards the patch of black. Tucker's eyes flickered, seemingly blinking.

Danny pouted at the two as his eyes immediately became misty, the infamous puppy-dog look coming to play on his face. His hands clasped in front of him, his conjoined hands meeting his right cheek. His shoulders slouched in hopelessness. "Aw, why not? I want you guys to meet Miss P too! Besides, those other guys weren't too bad. Please oh please oh please? Don't leave me all alone~!"

Again, neither shadow moved, nor did they even blink this time. Their suspended arms never quivered with the strain of holding them up. They hardly even seemed to be there at all; their glowing eyes were the only thing to assure Danny he hadn't gotten lost in the shadows' domain yet again.

Still, Danny pouted at them for a long time, whimpering and whining for the two to succumb to his wishes. He rocked back and forth on his feet, leaning forward and backwards. His eyes grew to an impossibly large size, and they continued to grow. The boy's blue eyes grew glassier as the time drew on, coming to the point some of the excess water escaped from one eye and rolled down his cheek, another small whimper escaping his throat at the same time.

That seemed to crack the two shadows. They slowly lowered their arms, letting them dangle uselessly at their sides while they practically melted with the black background. The two stilled again.

Almost immediately, Danny began to jump for joy, yelling 'yeah' and 'huzzah' again and again. The shadow duo merely watched, silent and motionless. Then Danny lunged forward, grabbing their arms and dragging them towards the patch of black as it quivered and pulsed. "Yeah! Let's go let's go let's go right now! I'm so happy!"

Patiently, the two shadows allowed themselves to be dragged along as Danny ducked inside the patch. Immediately, they came out from a wall alongside a large manor of sorts. The sounds of laughing children and young voices assaulted their ears, making Danny smile brighter as he looked around the place they had come to. The shadow duo was completely unfazed.

There were lots of children and teens running around the soft, grassy yard of the large manor. The sun beat down on them, warming their flesh as they raced around, enjoying the gorgeous day. A boy covered in bees and a girl gazing at the trees stood together, chatting lightly with each other. There were two girls playing with one another, one with a head full of curls and the other with large shoes. There was also a lonely boy by himself, tinkering with something in his hands.

From what Danny could see, the others had not shown up yet. He immediately bounced on his feet again, saying, "Yeah! I won the race!"

That earned the attention of all the children in the vicinity. They looked over at Danny, startled. They gaped at the giddy new boy and the dark silhouettes looming at his shoulders, their eyes glinting in the sunlight. Everyone just froze up, becoming stuck. All the sounds died in the vicinity. Things dropped between limp hands, _thump_ ing as the objects hit the soft ground. No one even seemed to breathe.

The black-haired waved cheerily at them. "Hi there! I'm Danny!"

* * *

 **I hate switching from 1st to 3rd person in the middle of a chapter with a burning passion but- GAH! -I had to. I wanted more of an insight on Danny's powers. I didn't get to go over all the aspects of it that I wanted to, but I'll be revisiting this fandom soon enough. I plan on beginning the revisits relatively soon, so things should get interesting.**

 **And if you couldn't tell, Danny's a little bonkers in this one. But that's what you get for getting lost in nothing but eternal darkness for who-knows-how-long. XD**

 **G** **uest Reviews:**

 **Guest (from ch.1): That's actually pretty hysterical to think about. XD**

 **Thanks to these people for favoriting/following: _Bunnibutch, Chise Sakamoto, Chooch77, ColorlessRainbow42, Da Chaos Mistress, FeralBass, Harrison Orion Black, KitCat97, Lizzie2145, Poosa-ard, Yoshietime15, YuugiYY, awesometastic .33, pinkice2596, randomphandom, secretwhovianpony, selen123, shadowflaymenyght, zotinha456, Chaoshift, EcoReiben, JennaUtena, Stevonnieandpercabeth, What Doesn't Kill Ya, ARSLOTHES, Percy's Panda Pillow Pet, IWillNeverAdmitToThis, Lilyqz._**


	10. Technopathy

**Danny Phantom/Generator Rex**

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Ch.10: Technopathy

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe-

 ** _Unknown subjects approaching. Unknown subjects approaching. Unknown subjects approaching._**

The resident's eyes snapped open, revealing pupil-less green eyes glowing brightly in the dim-lighting. The matching green lights twisting along his skin and his black, metallic bodysuit pulsed brightly for a moment before calming again. The relaxed hands resting on his kneecaps tensed up, followed quickly by the rest of his body. It was not two seconds later that the figure was standing, pacing urgently but calmly towards the landing just a few feet away from his resting spot. Then he stopped because of the wall in front of him. However, the platform rumbled under his feet for a moment before rising, taking the luminescent figure with it.

The figure with the green eyes and metallic suit seemed to notice nothing as the elevator rose, taking him to a higher level. Save for the consistent rise and fall of the boy's chest and the fluttering of his white hair, he moved not an inch, eyes blank and expression betraying nothing at all. His arms dangled loosely by his sides with his legs unusually straight. Though the elevator hummed and there were distant sounds of beeping, the figure might've as well have been deaf. Nothing fazed him, and not even the idea of intruders seemed to affect him in any way.

There were green lines running all along the floor and up the walls and on the ceiling, matching the ones covering the boy from head to toe. They pulsed occasionally, hardly creating a dent on the darkness surrounding them. Still, the green light was enough to cast long shadows across the shifting walls and the unmoving boy. The lines seemed to have a life of their own as they snaked all around, brightening spontaneously before they dimmed.

The elevator came to a halting stop. Again, it hardly seemed to affect the boy at all. He simply strode forward, leaving the platform behind and walking down a long hallway. His steps were loud _thud_ s against the metal floor, cutting through the soft _whir_ ring from the lines across the walls seemingly emitted. The sharp _thud_ s bounced off the walls, echoing up and down the long stretch. The sounds slipped through one of the boy's ears before coming out the other as he easily ignored the soft _whir_ s and sad-sounding _thud_ s with practiced ease.

The hallway was a dead-end, but, as soon as the boy approached the end, the glowing walls retracted easily. A frigid, howling wind raced inside, blowing snow in with it. It tossed the boy's stark white hair around, and, though anyone else in the world would have immediately broken out into uncontrollable shivers, the boy didn't even flinch at the biting wind. Like a stone wall, he stood against the freezing air and the swirling snow, staring out into the blinding snowstorm. Florescent green eyes scanned the horizon.

 ** _Scanning… Scanning… Scanning… Scanning… Scanning…_**

Back and forth, the boy searched for something. However, the terrible snowstorm that had blown in masked most of the visibility of the area. The boy, despite all his scanners and locaters, couldn't see any more than ten feet in front of him. He couldn't tell if the unknown subjects were friends or foes. Though he wanted to, running a diagnostic of the situation wouldn't help either. The snowstorm probably screwed up anything external of his base. It was amazing it picked anything up at all, he slowly came to realize, before the unknown subjects even reached the base. The only choice of action he had was to stay where he was and wait for the unknown subjects to get closer.

The boy stood there motionlessly for two minutes and thirteen seconds, nothing but snow registering in his vision. Then, slowly, two silhouettes manifested through the blinding whirlwind of powdery snow outside. They were close- very close, much to the boy's chagrin, though he quickly shook it off. The two silhouettes weren't slowing as they trekked through the deep snow under them. There was a voice, screaming in an attempt to cut through the lonely howls the wind gave.. The boy with the green eyes couldn't make any words out, though, and he doubted the silhouette's partner could either. It didn't matter to him, however. He only had one thing in mind as they approached slowly, and the boy was determined to get it out of the two.

They both came into better view soon, looking at the emotionless figure with the green eyes strangely. Their expressions were discarded quickly enough by the white-haired boy, who only began a routine scan.

 _ **Threat assessment: loading… Loading… Loading… Loading…**_

The boy stayed perfectly still, waiting patiently for the assessment to come back from its scan. In front of him, the two figures- a Latino teen-boy with a pair of goggles on his head and a Caucasian man with sunglasses over his eyes, both bundled up in extreme winter gear -talked amongst themselves, ignoring the stinging snow beating against their faces and clinging to their eyebrows. They were speaking loudly over the wind as it continued its desolate cries, though the words hardly managed to reach the white-haired figure's ears. What they spoke didn't matter to him anyway.

 _ **Threat assessment: completed. Threat level: one.**_

In other words, their threat level was that of any human being you might come across on the street. The boy had nothing to fear from them then. However, he still couldn't shake the far-away feeling that the two were hiding something. It wouldn't be hard; they snowstorm limited his assessment abilities, even though the two figures were standing just a few feet away from his spot. The specks of snow flying in front of his face, swirling all around him, made his diagnostics inaccurate.

He didn't like inaccuracy.

" _ **Please state your name and business**._ " The boy said. His voice was almost purely robotic and generic, though one could hear a teen boy's voice underlining it, hiding deep in the back. It was enough to shock the two figures shivering in the snow, looking at the immovable figure standing in the entryway. They had probably thought he was a glowing statue, if the figure considered his behavior. However, he still couldn't bring himself to care. Keeping the base safe was his only objective, and he'd be damned if he couldn't even do that.

"Uh…" The younger of the two started, teeth chattering as he rubbed his clothed arms as he tried to stay warm. The figure with the white hair noticed that the older was much more composed, not letting himself stoop down to such low measures as he stood in the shin-deep snow. The Latino boy hardly seemed to care, though, as he said, "U-Um, I'm R-Rex and t-t-this is Six-x-x. w-we're just t-t-trying-g to g-get out of s-s-s-snowstorm, if you k-k-know what-t-t I mean-n-n-n."

The boy didn't detect any lies coming from the boy's simple statement, which would mean they didn't mean any harm. Still, the figure was having trouble believing this, with the snowstorm screwing with his scanners and all. He should probably just shut them out, leave them in the snow and all, but that wasn't part of the procedure. Thus, as much as the boy would've loved to slam the door in their faces, he asked, " _ **Please state the passcode.**_ "

The winds howled another overbearing, lonely chorus as the two males looked at one another. Then their heads came back to the figure standing in the doorway, waiting patiently for the two to do as he requested. The older male- the one with the green-tinted sunglasses -repeated what the white-haired, green-eyed boy said, asking as emotionlessly as the boy looked, "Passcode?"

" _ **Yes. Please state the passcode.**_ "

The boy quickly rushed, "We-don't-have-one-but-could-we-come-inside-anyways? It's freezing out here."

They had no passcode. The boy, for no particular reason, felt some satisfaction at that. He shouldn't; he knew that much. Still, he couldn't suppress the feeling, which was terrible. However, he still found he couldn't bring himself to care even a tiny bit as he stated, " _ **Access denied.**_ "

The boy stepped back, turning around. The wind continued to blow all around him, curling around his body as the snow rode the currents. The white specks clung to his hair, and blew into his face, stinging the skin with its chill. The boy hardly noticed it as he commanded the doors to shut behind him. They started closing, snapping shut. However, there was a _clang!_ that made the boy stop dead in his tracks. He turned around, full facing the door once again. To his and his system's shock, there was a sword wedged between the two doors, keeping them from fully shutting. Snow continued to seep through the narrow crack, landing lifelessly on the floor before it disappeared, melting quickly.

The shock wore off quickly enough. Neither of the two males would have near enough strength to pry open the doors. Removing the sword was all that was required for the doors to close the entryway until the boy directed them to do otherwise. Thus, with even steps that were lost in the shrieking wind, the white-haired boy began striding towards the doors calmly. However, the orange and grey hands made of metal that wedged their way through the crack quickly made the boy stop again. Emotionlessly, the boy watched as the two hands- both of which were a thousand times bigger than any normal pair of hands -began to wrench the doors open again, despite the doors pulling against them.

There were no procedures for the boy to follow. So he stood in the middle of the hallway, watching as the doors began to open, despite the constant commands he sent for them to close. They creaked and groaned as they tried to obey, straining against the hands pushing them back. The boy hardly breathed as the Latino boy- Rex, he said his name was -pried the doors open, despite the odds. The older man had another sword in his hand, and he'd already scooped the other up, ready for a fight but unwilling to leave his partner's side.

It didn't make a difference to the white-haired boy what they did or didn't do, so long as he kept them outside the base.

 ** _Threat assessment: loading… Loading… Loading… Loading…_**

 ** _Threat assessment: completed. Updating threat assessment on_ "Rex" _and_ " Six." _New threat level: ten. Status for_ "Rex" _and_ " Six" _:_ _enemy. Saving updates…_**

Hm. His scanners would need fixing and upgrading. There was no way in hell the boy was going to let them be so inaccurate ever again, bad weather or no bad weather. Mistakes like these could not be repeated.

" _ **Failsafe protocol: activated. Weapon's system: armed. Objective: eliminate intruders.**_ " The boy stated. Immediately following, panels on the walls began shifting and moving, allowing for large guns and blasters to pop out, aiming their barrels in the direction of the two males still trying to pry the door open and keep it that way. The floor and ceiling shifted as well, protruding in some places to provide some obstacles for the intruders. It'd give them both a challenge, no doubt, which would leave the boy to retreat to the very back of his domain, where the intruders wouldn't be able to get to him.

Turning back around, the boy began wandering back towards the elevator. More weapons popped out of the walls as he passed, the floor and the ceiling shifting unsteadily. There were subdued _booms_ and _pops_ , all coming from behind the boy. It was like they weren't there at all though. The figure's steps were steady, even. The chaos and the yells from the males behind him hardly registered in his brain. The only thing that ran through his thoughts was his need to get back to his little domain under the ground, where no one would be able to reach him.

The small war continued behind him. It sounded like the two males were doing a rather good job of fighting off the failsafe protocol. It still didn't manage to worry the boy though, who just continued to evenly pace towards the elevator. He'd be in his little room soon; therefore, it didn't matter if the two males succeeded in fighting it off or not. They were trapped within the hall without the doors open to the outside world, and, without access to the elevator, they couldn't reach the domain underneath either. They would realize their mistake soon enough, and, if he started feeling merciful, the boy might release them back into the world. Who knew for sure though?

However, before the boy could step onto the elevator, he heard the boy's voice yell for the other male, screaming his name. The fear for his friend was obvious in his tone, and, though it shouldn't have made any difference to the boy, he stopped. His ears listened as the fight seemed to become more intense, the Latino boy becoming more ferocious in his attempts to hack everything to pieces. Again, he shouldn't have, but the white-haired boy found himself turning around, facing the battleground emotionlessly.

The figure couldn't hear either of the males over the warzone, but it was obvious the Latino boy was trying to rouse the older male from a stupor he'd fallen into. The man- Six -had a gash on the side of his head, dripping crimson blood down the side of his face and under his glasses, which were now cracked. The two swords lay abandoned at his sides while he tried to erase the fog from his mind. The younger of the two continued to call while he held his arms in front of him, proving to be an adequate shield as he held a panel from the wall in front of him with his large, metal hands.

Before he knew what he was doing, the boy stated, " ** _Failsafe override. Passcode 97342. Weapon's system: deactivate. Objective terminated. Updating_ " Rex" _and_ " Six." _New status: neutral. Saving updates…_** "

Immediately, the blasters along the walls- busted to pieces or not -began to retreat back into their slots. The panels slid over the holes, sinking back into the walls and hiding the weapons from view. The floor and the ceiling started retracting as well, straightening out and falling back into their original places. The green lines running up and down everything dimmed, looking less intimidating this way.

In just a few seconds, the hallway was back to its original state, minus the destroyed equipment littering the floor.

It was deathly quiet. Rex had stopped yelling for Six, who was unconscious from whatever hit him in the head. The teen looked around his makeshift wall, staring down at the still, white-haired figure at the end of the hall. Rex wanted to shout, ask if this was some trick or another, but his nerve was seemingly lost. (If Six wasn't lost in lullaby land, he might've questioned who the Latino boy really was. After all, Rex didn't just _shut up_. It just… It didn't happen. Was the world ending?)

" _ **Nanite override. Shutting down.**_ " The green-eyed boy stated. Following his statement, the lines on the ceiling retreated to the walls. The green streaks raced down the walls, meeting the floor. Then they started retracting as well, retreating towards the boy, disappearing under his feet. As soon as the lines vanished under his black, metallic boots, they began disappearing under his body. The light they had previously given off grew dimmer and dimmer, until the only light came from the boy's pupil-less, green eyes. Then they, too, shut off, leaving the three figures standing in complete darkness.

* * *

Rex, confused and just a tad bit scared (though would he ever admit it? _Hell no_ ), looked around the dark room, wondering what had happened. First, the creepy, lightbulb of a boy was commanding the weird base of his to attack him and Six in the freakiest voice possible. Then, in a blink of an eye, the teen boy- probably only a year or two behind Rex himself -was ordering the base to stand-down, quickly followed by the entire base just shutting down.

Indecisive much?

Then again, it probably wasn't a smart idea to 'attack' the base in the first place. But what else were he and Six supposed to do? They'd been trudging through the snow for an hour or more (actually, if he was being realistic, it was probably a shorter time than Rex was guessing; it just felt extremely long), and, if they stayed out any longer in the frigid cold, someone was more than likely going to get hypothermia.

Or they'd get found by one of those dog EVOs from that Alaskan town running around. Either way, their options weren't looking so hot.

"So…" Rex drawled, unsure of what to do next. From what little he had seen while tearing all the weapons to shred, there were no light fixtures he could turn on, and he wasn't sure the creepy-glowy boy would appreciate that anyway, seeing as he was the one to switch off what little light had been in the hallway in the first place. Trying to see anything in the perpetual dark they'd been casted in, Rex asked, "What just happened?"

"Sorry about that!" Another voice called, startling Rex so badly that he yelped and jumped, dropping the panel of the wall he'd previously been using to block the earlier onslaught. It hit the ground with a loud _bang!_ that echoed off the walls. Someone made a startled yelp, mirroring the sound Rex had made at the unexpected noise. The not-creepy voice called, "Wow! I hope no one got hurt down there. Here; let me get some lights on."

As soon as it was said, the green lights came, wrapping around the boy's shoulders. They snaked down his body, twisting around and around. They met the ground, stretching outwards. The lines continued to streak everywhere until the floor was completely lit with green lights, though they didn't travel all up the walls and ceiling like they had before. Rex watched it all, fascination shining in his brown eyes. As soon as the lines swept throughout the room, they went back to gaze at the origin. The brown orbs widened in shock.

The creep-glowy figure wasn't a creepy-glowy figure. Sure, he was still glowy but not nearly as freakish anymore. His hair had gone from stark white to pitch black, and his eyes had transformed from iridescent green to baby blue, all of which happened within the few seconds the darkness had closed in around them. A small, uneasy grin was on the boy's face as he looked Rex over, his eyes finding Six soon after. Not another word escaped from his mouth as he reached to rub the back of his neck, seemingly nervous.

Rex was just shocked. He didn't understand- the boy was creepy, but he wasn't now? How did that happen?! Transformations like that just didn't happen unless Rex healed one EVO or another. From what the boy had said before, the Latino boy assumed the boy was infested with active nanites, but why weren't they turning him into some monstrous form? A person just simply didn't shut down nanites!

"Um…" The boy mumbled, trying to fake his confidence with a beaming smile that didn't have any heart in it. "Is your friend ok? Six, I think his name was?"

Immediately, the EVO-boy knelt down beside his unconscious handler, frowning. He didn't look ok, but, knowing Six, a bump on the head wouldn't keep him down for more than a day. Then again, if Rex had been paying more attention to one of the blasters, Six wouldn't have had to knock him out of the way to keep him out of harm's way. That poor, considerate bastard…

"Not sure. I don't know how hard that blast hit him." Rex replied, feeling as uneasily as the other boy looked. Hiding this quiet anxiousness, the EVO looked back to the black-haired boy standing at the end of the hall. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Rex asked, "Not that I don't appreciate your thoughtful consideration or anything, but are you gonna kill us yourself now? I can't think of any other reason you'd stop your weapon's system from finishing us off."

That only seemed to make the once green-eyed boy even more nervous, laughing breathlessly as he tried to think up something to say. With that cliché, anxious smile, the boy replied, "No, I'm not killing anyone. Sorry about the failsafe. It was designed to keep the government out of my base, not two guys looking to get out of a snowstorm… Yeah, again, sorry. I probably should've thought about that more when I made the passcode. Anyway, do you think your friend needs any kind of medical attention? I can see he's bleeding."

Six undoubtedly needed medical attention of some sort. However, Rex didn't know exactly what to do- this wasn't what he did, after all; that was Holiday's job -and he didn't think the boy only yards away would either. Either way, Rex wasn't sure how much he wanted the black-haired teen anywhere near his handler. After all, he was the one that had unintentionally caused Six's injury. Why should he trust the boy with the man's care?

The boy caught onto Rex's disdain for the idea rather quickly. He didn't seem to mind it, accepting the fact even. He only shrugged, drowning in his obvious unease as he stated, "I wouldn't be the one working on him or anything. I'm far from a doctor, but I can help you get into contact with anyone that can help you guys. And I'll explain what the hell happened just a little while ago, ok? Just don't let your friend die in the base. It'd be really awkward living here if that happened."

Even with the assurances, Rex still wasn't overly sure about his feelings for the boy. However, the other's apprehensive attitude slowly crumbled his defensive attitude. With a sigh, the EVO-boy slung his handler's arm over his shoulder, dragging him off the ground with a small struggle. The black-haired boy wasted no time in zooming over, quickly slipping onto Six's other side, taking some of the weight onto his shoulders. Rex looked over at the blue-eyed boy and asked, "So what's your name?"

"Danny. I'd ask yours but I kind of already know it. Sorry about that." The other asked, a little of his nervous behavior slipping away. His anxious smile relaxed, curiosity sparkling in his blue eyes.

The blind trust in the other boy's- Danny's -eyes made Rex relax further as well, a small smile slipping onto his face, despite his unconscious handler. "Hey, it's no problem. Well, actually, Six is still technically a problem, but we'll work on it."

The not-creepy-glowy boy laughed, though it was breathlessly edgy. Rex only grinned uneasily back, sharing the other's worry for the unconscious man. Still, they began trekking towards the end of the hallway at Danny's word, much to Rex's confusion. From what he could see, there was nothing but a dead-end either way they went, unless the doors opened again. Danny only laughed at his obvious confusion before explaining, "Most of the base is underground. It's got a whole bunch of tunnels and stuff."

Rex gasped excitedly. "Are you serious?!"

"So serious you can't even imagine how serious I am."

"That's so cool! It's like a spy base!"

"I know, right?!"

The two excitedly chattered on about the base to the end of the base. Danny eagerly answered any questions Rex had about it, going into detail about the tunnels- tunnels that, Rex would later find out, Danny didn't visit often, for he always managed to get lost when he did -and the black-haired boy's living quarters, as well as the equipment hidden in the walls and under the ground. Rex listened with rapt attention, a beaming smile on his face. It hit the two off in an instant, and they acted as if they had been best friends for years, almost completely ignoring the unconscious agent hanging in-between their bodies (the poor guy).

As Danny directed them to stop on the elevator, almost immediately ordering for it to take them downwards, the two boys continued to grin at each other over Six's limp form. Then Rex's expression twisted into curiosity as he asked, "So… How'd you get your powers exactly?"

"My parents were amateur nanite scientists, and I may have stupidly gotten myself in the middle of one of their experiments. Instead of becoming horribly mutated though, my nanites more or less listened to my commands before growing minds of their own. They want to mutate me, but I refuse to let them, so we compromise. I let them take control for part of the time, and then they let me have free reign sometimes. That's kind of why I'm in self-exile." Danny informed, shrugging casually. His face broke out into a bigger grin. "But your powers are may cooler than mine! I can just control electronics! You can make constructs!"

Rex grinned back at the enthusiasm, his ego inflating at the other boy's obvious awe. He hardly noticed the platform of the elevator rumbling under him. "Yeah. My nanites are completely under my control. I can pretty much make them do whatever I want. It's pretty epic."

Danny only nodded enthusiastically before asking, "How'd they get like that?"

"I don't remember anything, but there was an industrial accident- a little like what happened to you -and I was injected with nanites to save my life. Then I got taken to Providence and now I work there with Six and a bunch of other people to help cure EVOs." Rex explained quickly. That prompted Danny to ask what he meant by curing EVOs, which just started an entirely new conversation for the boys to go over as the elevator came to a stop.

Nothing could be seen at first, for there still wasn't any lighting. The green streaks of light were dim, and they didn't stretch any farther than the platform. However, Danny pressed one hand to the wall just outside of the elevator. Green lights spilled out from his hands, and, the next thing Rex knows, long, florescent lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling flicker on.

The room wasn't as impressive as Rex thought it'd be. All the walls were made of metal, and nothing hung from them, giving a sense of detachment. There was a twin bed with baby blue sheets, a nightstand, and a clock with red numbers pushed against one wall, and a bare desk pushed up against another. However, all of it was impersonal. There were no simple touches that could them out from any other furniture around the world. It all looked like it'd come straight from Ikea, bland and just downright boring.

However, Rex found the large computer screen on the other side of the room pretty cool. Sure, it wasn't nearly as big as some of the screens that Providence had, but, hey, that was Providence. They actively investigated in that kind of equipment.

Danny motioned as best as he could for Rex to help him lay Six down on the twin bed, seeing as that was the only place they could gently drop him off. Then Danny told Rex that he could use the computer to contact Providence or whomever he thought would help while Danny himself made sure Six wasn't going to suddenly die on them. Neither knew why Six might suddenly flat-line, but, then again, they weren't doctors either. Better safe than sorry.

As Rex moved over to the computer, he called over his shoulder, "Oh and be careful when you're near Six while he sleeps. If he suddenly wakes up, you won't know it until you're blasted off to the pearly white gates of heaven."

Immediately, Danny laughed, which made Rex pause. The black-haired boy continued to laugh until he saw the other boy's serious expression. Instantly, Danny paled as he suddenly became nervous around the unconscious man lying on his mattress. "Wait, you-you're serious about that?"

"So serious you can't even imagine how serious I am."

* * *

 **Ok, so, only half of this edited because, as of now, reading it is impossible. My mind is still stuck in the movie theater, for I have just gotten back from seeing Batman vs. Superman. (I'M SO EXCITED; IT DIDN'T CRASH AND BURN NEARLY AS BAD AS I THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA-). So yeah. Also, this idea is kinda jacked up, seeing as I thought of the first part late at night, "developed" it in the early hours of morning, then thought up the last half of it after I'd gotten bored of it. (-AND THEY HAD JASON TODD REFERENCES-) So yeah, this chapter may be completely fucked up but, hey, the grammar's at least decent? (-AND I CAN'T STOP THE MINI-HEART ATTACKS I'M HAVING. SORRY.) So, again, yeah. Hope it was at least amusing. (I NEED TO BE SMACKED. SOMEONE OUT THERE, HELP ME!)**

 **Thanks to these people for favoriting/following:** ** _Danny and Kris, shadowstormthecat._**


	11. Dimensional Travel

**Danny Phantom/Criminal Minds**

* * *

Ch.11: Dimensional Travel

Nervously, the two men looked between themselves before their eyes found the unconscious teenager again. One of them looked at the watch on their wrist, frowning anxiously and twitching. The other man paced nervously in front of the prone form, his gaze dodging between the teen, the ceiling, the ground, his partner, and the untouched food tray sitting on the concrete floor. Both were obviously nervous beyond belief, the source of their anxiety sitting quietly on the ground, chained up and breathing deeply.

It was hardly the typical attitude of a victim of kidnapping. Granted, the black-haired teen boy was unconscious, head lightly resting against the dry-wall behind him. However, both of the men in charge of watching the kid both knew he shouldn't be, seeing as the boy had basically been unconscious for two days now, and what little the teen had awoken, he'd been loopy and out of it, always hazy-eyed and smiling. Then he'd just drift off a couple minutes later, falling back into beddy-bye land for no rhyme or reason. The two men were starting to honestly wonder if they had accidentally hit the boy just a little too hard over the head when they had 'picked him up.'

Neither man would be worried, if it weren't for the fact their boss had told them to make sure the teen stayed mostly undamaged. The two thought they had done a pretty good job at that, but now they were starting to doubt how well they handled the job. They prayed their boss wouldn't find out. Neither man wanted to die so early on in their lives.

"Should we try to wake him up again?" The first man asked, brushing his dark hair from his forehead anxiously. His partner glanced at him, peeked at the unconscious boy on the ground, then returned his gaze to his partner. As if afraid to speak, the blonde man shrugged his shoulders before moving his hands in a suggestive arc in the direction of the boy. The dark-haired male made an obvious sign of unease, asking, "Wait, why do I have to do it?"

The blonde propped an eyebrow up. "You suggested the idea."

The first partner stuttered in response to the first's simple but straightforward statement. The blonde male just watched, hardly amused and just waiting for the other man to cave, either by going through with his suggestion or worming his way out of doing it. Much to the blonde's surprise, the dark-haired man quickly sighed in surrender, beginning the short trudge towards the spot the ebony-haired boy was chained and sleeping his capture away without so much as a care to bounce around inside his skull.

The blonde male made no attempt to make it to his destination swiftly, nor did he even bother to keep his already slow pace. The closer the male drew to the boy, the more a feeling of unease began to wrap around the man's chest, his hazel eyes locked onto the boy's prone form.

It wasn't that the boy was intimidating or posed a threat to the dark-haired male or his partner. In some ways, it wasn't even the ungodly amount of sleeping the young teen had been doing. No, the dark-haired man hadn't liked the look he'd seen in the boy's blue eyes when he had been conscious- or, lack thereof. His crystalline orbs might as well have been nothing more than glass marbles trapped inside a person's eye-sockets. They had been completely void of life, as if someone had sucked the boy's soul out of his body, and then hid it somewhere the rest of the world wouldn't be able to find it.

The blonde male watched from his spot, hands resting lightly on his hips with trace hints of amusement layering his worried frown. The blonde's partner stopped a foot and a half from the chained boy, glanced uneasily at the other male a few yards from their spot, and then looked back down at the boy. Reaching out with his foot, the dark-haired man nudged the teen's leg lightly. However, his voice was loud as he called for the boy to wake up. It was very out of place in the still apartment, cutting through the noise of traffic and heavy construction pushing through the walls. The man's voice was as sharp as the distant high-pitched car horns and ear-splitting jackhammer thrumming against who-knew-what.

"Hey. Kid. Wake up. …I said _wake up!_ "

The black-haired teen's head lulled to one side, hanging limply as his lips parted ever-so-slightly. His body slumped a little further against the wall, slipping into a rather uncomfortable position for any lucid person. However, it didn't cause even the smallest blimps on the boy's radar. The most he did to suggest that he registered his treatment was a small sigh in his sleep; however, it seemed more of a routine than anything else, as the teen tended to sigh every two or three hours, like clockwork. Thus, it wasn't any comfort to the two men who were currently in charge of keeping him alive. Their frowns sunk deeper into their faces the longer the boy remained unresponsive. However, the teen refused to yield them any form repose, sitting blankly against the dry-wall without so much as a twitch along his form.

"How does he sleep like that for so long? Not even my baby sister can do that." The dark-haired man stated, shaking his head and scratching the back of his neck anxiously.

The man with the light-colored hair quickly dismissed his partner's simple statement, hardly even acknowledging that it'd been spoken at all. Instead, he focused on the predicament at hand, which would be what their boss would do when he found out the growing problem. "We've gotta find out what the hell's wrong with him. Call that contact of yours; get him over here to check the kid out. He should know something about this, right?"

The man that had nudged the boy turned his head towards his blonde partner. His worried expression had abruptly been cast aside, replaced by another look that clearly said, 'What the hell have you been smoking?' He voiced his feelings, saying, "Roman's a _vet_ , not a doctor, dill-weed. She's more likely to make the situation _worse_ , not better, and we're already in deep enough shit as it is."

"Yeah, well, sitting on our hands ain't getting us anywhere either, huh, pretty boy?" The blonde replied, clearly irritated. The hostility was shared with his partner, however, who glared back in response to the nickname he found offending. The blonde began pacing the length of the small apartment they were holed up in as his partner once again stated that calling a vet, of all things, to give their hostage a look-over was not a good idea.

"Roman's not gonna know what to do!"

"But she might have an idea. Just call her up already, dammit! I was pointed as the decision maker, remember?"

"Vividly, but I can't bring myself to give a shit. And you know something else? I also vividly remember you boasting about one of _your_ contacts. You said he was a mob doctor or something like that. Why don't you call him up, huh?"

"Because that bastard got _ganked_ last week. Now call your vet friend and get her over here!"

The fight continued, with the dark-haired male once again objecting to the blonde's order and the blonde restating his earlier commands. They invaded each other's personal space, yelling swears, threats, objections and demands, talking in circles that led them arguing around and around. Though their voices were high in volume and they continued to repeat themselves, the two refused to hear the other, fighting and fighting until one of them finally grew weary of the battle.

Through the curses and the booming dispute, the teen boy with the raven hair continued his convincing act as a statue, chin against his chest and mouth slightly parted. He was nothing more than a figure that took up space in the dinky apartment, and if it weren't for the routine rise and fall of his chest, that too would've been arguable. But none of it seemed to matter for the unconscious teenager, who breathed as flawlessly as he would on any normal day.

* * *

 _Danny grinned as he watched himself fly through the air, snow-white hair gleaming as it whipped around his head from the high-speeds. Peridot green eyes glimmered with determination, literally glowing from the power coursing through his veins. The other boy's skin-tight jumpsuit- a flaming, white DP emblem blazing in the center of his chest -twisted every which way the flying boy did, sweat creating a shiny sheen over his tanned face. His expression morphed into an adamant resolve to see that he won this battle._

 _The teen that was an exact replica of Danny- apart from the strange clothing, superpowers, and the color of his eyes and hair –was facing off against an older, blue-skinned male. The man had black-hair, like Danny's, and his eyes were a pupil-less crimson. There were pointed fangs that glinted menacingly every time the man opened his mouth, which reminded Danny of a vampire. The man's white and black get-up only reinforced the mental image and branded it permanently into Danny's mind, though the idea had been there for a long time anyway._

 _Just like he'd seen the two do so many times before, Danny studied the banter passed between the two- sometimes, it was almost teasing; other times, it was deadly serious; tonight, it seemed the two were caught somewhere in the middle, as if they were indecisive –and the way their bodies easily twisted and turned in the air as they moved to attack their rival or dodge the oncoming onslaught of projectiles they hurled at each other. The older man's movements, Danny noted, were very precise, very deliberate, as were his carefully selected words. The black-haired boy's green-eyed counterpart, though, wasn't so nearly as meticulous, taking openings as he saw them and creating moves as he went along, never thinking about what his next course of action might be. They were two very different fighting styles, but that may have been what made the two so evenly matched: the older man may have plans, but anything could disrupt his flow, while the boy merely reacted. However, because the teen only reacted, there was no way for him to predict when a decent opening to end the battle with may come, which he may or may not be able to catch in the heat of the moment._

 _Or, at least, that's what Danny thought may be the thing keeping them evenly matched. He wasn't a professional in the art of fighting, however. The evenness may stem from the fact that, while the vampire-wannabe undoubtedly had much more control of his powers, his younger adversary harnessed much more raw power. Danny couldn't tell for sure, though, and he didn't know where to find out, either, to his dismay._

 _Danny contemplated more of the same sorts of things as his crystalline eyes followed the fight high in the sky. He stood planted in the middle of the abandoned street, head bent back to watch with an air of casualness around him, despite the danger he'd put himself into. Danny even had one hand cupping his cheek in contemplation, a thoughtful expression etched into his face. It was hardly the look one should be sporting when in the midst of an area full of hazards, but what else was Danny to do?_

 _It wasn't like it much mattered anyway. Neither the man with crimson eyes, nor Danny's white-haired twin saw him standing casually yards below their violent quarrel, and everyone that had fled the scene earlier had raced right past him; sometimes, even straight through him. It was like Danny didn't exist in this world, and it was the same for every world he visited. He was nothing more than a ghost, a spectator to watch the happenings in other dimensions._

 _Well… That wasn't completely true. There was a dimension he could change things, and people knew of his existence: his home world. However, it'd been a long,_ long _time since he'd been back there. The images in his head of the people he knew were starting to become fuzzy, distorted. The names, which used to be so familiar, were foreign sounds on his tongue. The sounds of his family's voices- he was fifty percent sure he had one, and he noted he used to be more sure of himself only a few dimensions ago –could no longer be recalled, and had been replaced with generic voices for generic, vague pictures that grew dimmer with each passing day. Danny knew it should've made him anxious, but the feeling of forgetting was as familiar as his family should've been, so he didn't worry more than a little._

 _Besides, the fuzzy bits of his home world that could be recalled were bland and boring. Why would he want to go back there when the worlds he journeyed to- the ones where he had superpowers or, in the ones that didn't have a Danny for him to watch, had impossible things in them, like monsters and demons and other cool stuff –were so much more interesting to watch? Sure, it wasn't possible for him to interact with the environment or the people, but watching wonders beat living a dull, boring life._

 _Even now, with Danny's twin wise-cracking as a thermos in his hand sucked the man with fangs inside the cylinder container, the fight coming to a close, going back to his home world didn't seem like a pleasurable task to venture after, even though Danny knew what exactly came next after a battle such as this. The white-haired twin would fly to his strange house, would undoubtedly get scolded by his parents when he arrived after breaking curfew, and then go to his room in hopes of either sleeping or getting some homework done. However, no matter which option the twin went with, his goals would always be interrupted by other entities this world called 'ghosts.' Some were amusing to watch; others were simply routine. Danny preferred the unusual visits from the blue-skinned man and other, more powerful enemies._

 _Just as Danny predicted, the tired twin began streaking off towards the distance, where the black-haired teen could faintly see the top of the large op-center sitting on top of his twin's house. However, much to his pleasant surprise, as soon as the white-haired male was gone, a tank-like vehicle screeched around the corner of an intersection, nearly tipping over from the speed. With a grin, Danny watched as it roared forward before squealing to a halt only a few inches in front of him. The car hadn't even stopped before two figures, one clad in blue and the other in orange, jumped from the doors, waving large firearms around in the air. The man in orange, who was properly over six feet in height and large around the middle as well, boomed with his loud voice, "Where's the ghosts?! Where's Phantom and the Wisconsin Ghost?!"_

 _There was no one but Danny to answer, and the two figures looked right through him, as usual. His light laughter echoed through the deserted street, but it never reached Danny's twin's parent's ears. They just continued to search for the two entities, despite the obvious fact they were both gone, and Danny continued to laugh._

* * *

"Oh, for the love of-" The blonde yelled, cutting himself in the middle of his exclamation to take a swing at his unrelenting partner. The other barely managed to duck away, an enraged expression overcoming his face for the uncalled-for violence the other man resorted to. However, missing his target only enraged the light-haired male further as he yelled, "Would you just call the damn bitch already?!"

The dark-haired man opened his mouth to retort, probably with a similar response to what he'd been giving for the past couple of minutes since the fight started, but his voice never left his throat. Through the honking of car-horns and roaring of jackhammers, a soft laugh slipped through the din and pierced the men's eardrums so abruptly, they both stopped short in their fight. The anger drained away, leaving their blood cold and their once trembling bodies deadly still.

Almost as one, the two men shot around to stare at the boy still on the ground. The black-haired teen had yet to move from his uncomfortable spot, still slouched limply against the wall with his hands cuffed to one side on the leg of a nightstand. It was undeniable that the fragile, breathless laughter was coming from the boy, though he hadn't so much as stirred in the past eighteen hours.

Without thinking, the dark-haired man zoomed up beside the boy's side, dropping to his knees and cupping his hands around the teen's face. None too gently, the man lifted the younger male's head up to face his, and he was a little disturbed at how limp the boy remained. To make matters worse, the boy was still caught in the depths of sleep as he chuckled quietly to himself. The only thing about his expression to change from its usual stoic look was the slight up-tilt of the boy's mouth, creating the barest image of a smile. However, it was so small that the dark-haired male almost completely missed it.

Glancing over his shoulder, the man looked at his anxious partner with a questioning gaze. The blonde shrugged his shoulders, at a loss of what to do, and the man kneeling on the floor was grateful when the other all but forgot about calling the female vet to give their unconscious captive a check-up. Turning back around and ignoring the glaring fact nothing he did would rouse the black-haired teen, the man patted the boy's cheek a little roughly, calling, "Hey kid, you awake?"

As usual, there was no response. The boy's head merely bobbed in the dark-haired man's grip as he was smacked. The tiny twitches at the corners of his lips stayed firmly in place, not growing bigger but not shrinking either. When the man opened one eyelid to see if that would warrant any response, all the dark-haired male received in return was a lifeless blue orb boring into his own hazel ones. The man released the boy's eyelid quickly after, though he refused to acknowledge how unnerved he was at seeing the void stare.

"We should seriously get this kid some help." The dark-haired man stated, looking back over his shoulder as he released his grip from the boy's face. As predicted, it limply lulled to one side again, black bangs shielding an expressionless face. When the blonde opened his mouth to say something, focused on his kneeling partner, the dark-haired male snapped, "And not from a _vet_. God, if only you could grow a brain."

The comment would've sparked another fight, if the FBI hadn't chosen that moment to break their door down, of course.

It was fast, how it happened. The door slammed open abruptly, flying in a long arc before crashing into the dry-wall with a loud _BANG!_ Agents poured in with firearms and padding, telling the two men to get on the ground and place their hands behind their heads with sharp, booming voices. With startled yelps, the two men didn't have any chance to do as they were told; the agents roughly helped them along with the task before either man's brain could catch up with their eyes. As the agents quickly began restraining the two men, others scoured the rest of the small apartment, shouting 'clear' when they found no one. A blonde agent quickly split from the first wave of agents that had entered, thumping over to the unconscious teenager slumped against the wall. Behind her, someone asked if the boy was alive.

Taking one hand from her gun, JJ pressed two fingers to the boy's throat, finding his pulse without any difficulty. It was strong under her fingers, and with a sigh of relief, the blonde agent responded, "He's alive, and he appears to be unharmed."

The other agents quickly breathed a sigh of relief as the members of SWAT began to lead the two men from the apartment, both with their hands cuffed tightly behind their back and an agent grasping them tightly from behind. Derek quickly joined JJ's side, helping by quickly brandishing the keys he'd grabbed from the apartment's coffee table (of all places to put the keys; the two men must've been really confident in their ability to keep the teen hidden and restrained). While Derek did that, JJ shook the boy gently by the shoulders, trying to rouse him from his slumber as the cuffs dropped from his wrists. Calling sweetly, JJ said, "Hey, Danny, wake up. We're here to take you back to your family."

However, like with the two men before her, the black-haired boy refused to be pulled from his slumber. His head lulled to and fro from JJ's gentle shaking, and his body slumped even further against the wall, sliding easily against the dusty, wooden floor. The teen's breathing wavered as he moved, though it easily adjusted quickly.

JJ frowned at the response- or lack thereof –she received. She shook Danny's shoulder a little harder, called a little louder. Derek looked anxiously between the boy and his comrade, wondering why the boy wasn't responding. JJ pondered the same problem beside him. But no, Danny refused to stir even the smallest bit, no matter how rough JJ got or how loud she called. When it was clear that nothing was to be gained with such actions, Derek called, "We need a medic in here, ASAP!"

Through the hustle and bustle as agents scoured the apartment high and low, Hotch made a quick beeline for the two agents kneeling beside the unconscious captive. As he joined their side, taking a place on the ground beside his two agents, Hotch urgently asked, "What's wrong?"

"He's not waking up. Danny! Danny, honey, can you make some sort of sign that you can hear us? Danny!" JJ called again and again, cupping the boy's cheek in her palm while shaking his shoulder with her free hand. Still, he did not move or make a sound.

The medics with the ambulance came too slowly, in the agent's opinion, though they did not say so aloud. They merely got out of the paramedics' way as they quickly laid Danny out, trying to minimize his movements in case there was internal damage none of them could see. They loaded the boy onto a stretcher soon after. He was rushed out of the apartment building, into an ambulance, and raced to the hospital with only the paramedics and JJ to be there if he awoke suddenly.

* * *

 _From his spot in the schoolyard, Danny watched his twin smile as he greeted his friends. The three grouped together after class, ready for lunch. The other students milled about them, alternating between casting dirty glances and completely ignoring the "freak trio" of Casper High. However, the three teens were unaware of the looks and not-looks thrown their way- or they were, and they just couldn't bring themselves to care. Although, Danny wouldn't be surprised if Sam, the pretty goth girl, and Tucker, the tech-wiz in love with his PDA, noticed them while the twin was in the dark. Danny had heard him being called "clueless" a few times, and there were a few instances that the boy understand why such a title was bestowed upon the fourteen-year-old._

 _Seriously… Even Danny could see there was something going on between the goth and his twin. In this dimension, there was, in the very least. In other worlds, the the girl and boy's (his?) relationship varied upon the alternating events._

 _For a moment, the black-haired boy forgot all about the trio he was watching. His thoughts were back in his world, wondering if maybe he had a Sam somewhere, even though it'd been months since his twin and the blue-skinned man had fought and he'd last thought about what his world was like. But no, he couldn't remember if there was a Sam where he was from- or a Tucker or a Dash or a Mr. Lancer or anybody around here. Hell, if he was being serious with himself, Danny wasn't even all that sure he had parents or a sister in his world. All he had was his name; there wasn't even a last name to go with it._

 _But then… That was typical, wasn't it? He always forgot where he came from, who he knew, what he'd done. All of that priceless information was lost in the other dimensions he'd visited, where he'd been focused on the happenings and not about what was going on where he was supposed to be. After all, how could he think about his boring, normal life when such amazing and strange things were going on somewhere else, a place he was allowed to view?_

 _However, it would be nice to see the few similarities between his world and the other dimensions out there every once in awhile. It'd be easier to relate to his other selves and even to the people that weren't him, when there wasn't a him to watch. But alas, there were no memories to connect to people with, making Danny just a little less compassionate to the people he watched than he should've been._ Not _feeling bad (or anything else) for them wasn't something he_ meant _to do; it was just hard to understand why some of his twins felt so miserable in some dimensions when their parents died when Danny himself didn't even know what it felt like to have parents, or to feel happy for anyone who received a good grade when he couldn't ever remember receiving any grades_ at all _. So it wasn't for lack of trying; he just didn't get it._

 _With a sigh, Danny shooed all those thoughts away, focusing on the trio again as they found a spot away from the other students, in case any of the other teens decided to play a joke on them or something else along those lines. For the first part of their lunch, nothing interesting happened. The trio just sat and talked, about everything and nothing at the same time. Danny, leaning against the tree directly behind the three, sighed as he listened, bored but unwilling to find something else to watch, just to make sure nothing would happen while he was gone. However, he seriously contemplated leaving a few times, gently bashing his head against the tree beside him with moans and groans._

 _Somewhere in the back of his mind, Danny realized this was a nice break for his counterpart. The twin always seemed to be chasing down ghosts or attempting to catch up with schoolwork or chores, hardly ever receiving a break from life. It drastically limited everything a normal teen looked forward to when he got everything done and over with: sleep, free-time, and family time. Thus, while watching his twin squirm and rush had been amusing for Danny, it had been taking a pretty high toll on his twin, who desperately needed the break lunch-time at school offered._

 _However, like all good things for Danny's counterpart, it came to an end rather quickly and abruptly. The black-haired boy's twin gasped, a puff of pale blue fog slipping past his parted lips. The mist dissipated quickly into the air as the black-haired boy sitting between his two friends regained his composure, looking all around the area for the entity that set off his "ghost sense." Sam and Tucker both sighed but, nonetheless, put on brave-faces, ready for whoever it was interrupting their day this time._

 _Standing right behind them, Danny couldn't help it. He smiled._

 _With a whispered word to his friends to relax and enjoy the rest of their break, Danny's twin rushed into the brush, hiding from any person with wandering eyes. Casually, Danny followed behind him, hardly mystified when his counterpart changed from his human form to his ghostly one, black jumpsuit and white hair and green eyes and all. Without any time to lose, the teen hopped into the air, zooming off with a sudden burst of speed. Danny wasted no time in sprinting in the direction of his twin's flight path, keeping his gaze to the sky to watch where his twin was racing off too._

 _As usual, there was a long distance between Danny and his twin. The only thing allowing the boy to follow his counterpart was the fact the other boy liked to fly way high in the sky, and it wasn't hard to spot him, if you looked a little longer than normal. The black-garbed figure stood distinctly out against the puffy white clouds and perky blue sky, which made tracking him that much either. Danny had no idea why the ghost-hunters of the town- the Red Huntress, the Fenton parents, the GIW, all of them –needed their stupid devices when, if they just looked up once in awhile, they'd see the black streak zooming across the sky. Were they all blind or something, or did it just make them feel better when they used their tracking devices?_

 _Following the black-clad figure zooming across the sky, searching for one of his many long-time rivals, Danny contemplated this question. It gave him something to do as he raced across streets, streaked through alleys, and jumped over backyard fences. The distant and speed hardly deterred the boy; he never slowed, nor did his muscles ever begin to ache, but that was normal to him. It was just another thing he forgot existed back in his world, though he knew everyone in every dimension felt fatigue when they worked past their limits. It seemed Danny had none._

 _The boy's twin eventually rushed into another flying being, one Danny couldn't identify from the distance he was at, though his money was placed on Youngblood. The younger ghost hadn't been spotted for awhile now, and it felt like he was due any time for a visit. However, Danny never did find out who the ghost his twin ran into was, for, as he launched himself over another fence, he landed on a solid, black floor. Which was surrounded by a black void. With nothing else but Danny in it._

 _The scene was familiar, and Danny frowned, a little irritated by the timing. After all, he wanted to know who it was that his twin had stumbled upon. He had started a bet with himself, after all!_

 _There was nothing he could do, though. He'd been abruptly booted from the dimension he'd last been in, and as far as he knew, there wasn't any way he could go back to it, at the last spot he'd left it. From here, Danny could only go find another one and begin watching the interesting folk there. First, however, he needed to find another door that led to another dimension, which could take anywhere from a few minutes to months to find, depending on which direction he walked in and where the other universes were settled in their spots. Danny had no way of knowing which way led to the closest world; thus, he simply closed his eyes, spun in a circle as he counted up from one, and stopped when he reached ten. As he opened his eyes, Danny prepared his legs to begin walking in that direction. Before he could move, though, he paused._

 _Just a few feet away stood an opening, not like any of the ones Danny had seen before. There was no door, just a large rectangle that_ needed _a door. Inside the entryway, there was nothing but a brightly lit, white expanse. However, none of the light shined out of the door, remaining inside and never reaching the darkness beyond the opening; never reaching Danny, who stood in his spot only feet away._

 _Despite having no memories of the opening (or at all, if Danny was being technical about it), it still seemed vaguely familiar. The smallest feelings of dread twitched inside of Danny's stomach, and he frowned, wondering if he should enter the entrance. He may not have memories, but he knew what instinct was, and he always listened to it. It's what kept him from entering the worlds filled with nothing but misery and agony, no hope ever in sight. And it seemed that this opening would be one of them._

 _However, as if it could read his thoughts, the light inside of the door seemed to dim in sadness. Danny, head-tilting to the side in curiosity, watched as the white light flickered, as if pleading with him to_ please come back _;_ I miss you. _It only confused the boy further, the teen wondering if this doorway was something else he may have forgotten over the decades while he journeyed far and wide. It was a likely theory, and Danny began to step towards the shining light, steps hesitant and slow. It was enough for the light, which beckoned brightly in encouragement. Though it didn't make the boy move any faster, the simple trek still excited the light, which seemed to get a little brighter each, careful footstep._

 _The bright light was warm, Danny noted, very warm. It was inviting, but the dread curling around inside of the teen's stomach was only getting worse. However, Danny couldn't bring himself to turn and run; the light had seemed so sad and forlorn when he'd thought about doing so. But how was he supposed to ignore his instincts, which had been so helpful and correct over the long years? Either way, it seemed he was going to have to betray one of them, much to Danny's chagrin._

 _The light continued to call; the boy's instincts urged him to leave. Danny just stood in front of the doorway, enjoying the radiating warmth and pondering his course of action. The time that passed as he stared into the doorway was indeterminable._

 _In the end, Danny stepped into the welcoming light and was whisked away._

* * *

Hotch and Jack Fenton, Danny's father, stood outside of the teen boy's hospital room. They both gazed inside, solemnly watching Danny's sister standing on one side of the boy's bed while his mother sat in an uncomfortable chair on the other side, holding her son's hand as he continued to sleep the night away. JJ stood off to the side, hopefully to bring comfort to the family. There were nurses padding softly up and down the hallway, distant sounds of talking and some laughter, and the squeaks of gurneys and wheelchairs; however, the only sounds that mattered to the small family was the quiet beeping of the monitor set off to the side, assuring everyone in the room that the boy was indeed alive, and not lost to them forever. It was the only source of comfort to the two crestfallen parents and downcast sister.

Though he already knew the answer, Hotch asked anyway, "Is Danny alright?"

Jack sighed, running a hand through his salt-and-peppered hair. His free hand rested lightly on his hip as he gazed into the quiet room, his cobalt eyes studying the solemn scene tiredly. Dark stubble lined his chin and jaw, and dark crescent-moons hung heavily under his eyes. However, Jack managed a small smile, just happy his son was in safe hands as he said, "I guess he is. The doctors found hardly any damage; just a few cuts and bruises that are almost healed, and he's a little malnourished too. Besides that, though, there should be nothing wrong with him, but he just keeps on sleeping, and no one knows what to do."

Hotch noted that the other man's tone was sad but resigned, as if he was used to such strange happenings under his watch, though he wasn't overly thrilled they continued. Hotch watched Jack for a little longer as the dark-haired man continued to watch his family with his dejected smile. Unable to keep his curiosity at bay, Hotch hesitantly asked, "Has something like this happened before, Mr. Fenton?"

"Unfortunately." Jack answered, his smile dissipating. His shoulders followed, slumping as his once perfectly structured stance crumbled. The crescent-moons seemed to grow darker and longer in those few quick seconds, and it looked like Jack aged a few years from just standing there. Jack explained, "Danny's been falling into these long periods of sleep ever since he was a kid, though it wasn't so bad at the time. They've progressively been getting longer over the years; sometimes, Danny will be asleep for days, though those instances only happen every few months."

"I'm…sorry." Hotch stated, still hesitant. He felt like he was walking on eggshells around this man, and the agent really didn't desire throwing this man into a deeper fit of depression, which would only age him further. "Is there any way to treat his condition?"

Another depressed sigh. "No. There's no way to wake Danny when he's like this. The only thing we can do is keep him on an IV and wait until he wakes up."

Hotch wasn't overly sure how to respond to the simple statement. Nothing he could say would bring comfort or hope. The agent was even the first to admit that he had little to no experience in the area of problems with no solutions, especially for his son. Fortunately, Jack didn't seem to be in the mood to talk any longer with the FBI agent. With a quick but deep breath, he told Hotch he wanted to join his family. As soon as the man nodded, Jack left the doorway and entered, slowly stepping over to where Maddie was sitting patiently beside her son's bedside. Jack rested a hand on the woman's shoulder, and together, the two watched the ebony-haired boy sleep on and on, breathing deeply and occasionally sighing in his slumber.

JJ briefly looked to her boss, asking with her eyes what he was going to do. Hotch gestured down the hall, turning around as he did. JJ nodded, watched his form leave, and then settled back to study the family silently again. She'd already been here for a long time, and the blonde wondered if it would be better if she just decided to leave and give the family some time to themselves. JJ thought about her decision for some time, eventually coming to the conclusion that she would be better used at the office. However, just as she took the slightest step forward, Danny's expression scrunched up in confusion, a groan resounded from his throat, and his eyes fluttered. In the next instant, the boy's eyelids opened, and blue orbs looked around the room confusedly.

"Danny!" Jazz exclaimed excitedly, immediately reaching to wrap her arms around her brother as he yelped at the sudden attack. She squealed in his ear, earning another loud yell in pain before Danny pushed the girl away, mumbling a curse under his breath. Still, it didn't deter the girl in the least as she held the boy's shoulders at arm's lengths, gazing at him with teary, teal eyes. "Oh, I missed you, Danny!"

On the other side of the bed, Maddie and Jack both stood at attention, gazing at their two children fondly. They only looked away to smile at each other briefly, their eyes falling back to the two young ones in an instant. They didn't even acknowledge JJ, who stood off to the side, shocked but thrilled by the sudden awakening of the black-haired teen. However, the excitement began to trickle away as they watched Danny take in his surroundings.

The boy was beyond confused, which was to be expected after being unconscious for who-knew-how-long. However, there wasn't a trickle of understanding in the scenery around him. It was strange. Even if Danny didn't know where he was, he should've at least recognized the familiar faces surrounding him. But no, Danny studied each of them carefully, looking like he might've seen them on a street-side a long time ago and not just two days prior, right before he'd gone off to school. His brain was trying to make the connection between the vaguest of familiar feelings, but something just couldn't catch.

As JJ watched the scene with growing dread, Maddie and Jack suddenly glanced at each other again, obviously horrified and anxious. Jazz immediately became crestfallen, withdrawing her hands from her brother's shoulders. Slowly and hesitantly, they fell to her sides, and the girl tilted her head to side, her eyes pleading with the boy to recognize her. Jack and Maddie turned back to their son, and Maddie took Danny's hand, asking, "Danny, honey…do you remember us?"

It was like the woman asked the teen a trick question. Danny's mouth opened and closed repeatedly, the cogs in his brain turning and cranking to come up with an adequate answer. None seemed to come to him, though. Finally, he just asked, "Should I?"

* * *

"Should I?" Danny asked curiously, eyes darting between the four unfamiliar people around him. He felt like he should, though; after all, this was undoubtedly his home world (only in his dimension could he be seen and felt, he remembered that much). However, the only thing he recognized about these people was that they had an uncanny resemblance to his twins' parents and sister in the other dimensions he'd visited.

However, the teen couldn't be sure that these people were his family. While there was a great load of worlds where Jack and Maddie and Jazz were all related to his other selves, that didn't necessarily mean they were related to him in his home world. There were plenty of dimensions where the other-Dannys were related to trapeze artists or monster hunters or people who dressed in ridiculous clothing and a plethora of other strange things (some people were strange for simply _not_ being strange at all). Hell, the people in front of him may not even be the Fentons. They may just be people who looked similar to the other families in other worlds. That didn't happen a lot, Danny knew, but it did happen occasionally. After all, he'd had the glorious pleasure of traveling to many worlds over the last couple of lifetimes, which gave him a good knowledge on these sorts of things.

Unfortunately, traveling abroad without being able to interact with his environment meant that his social skills were very limited. It's not like he'd had the chance to use them in a couple hundred years.

It wasn't very often Danny found himself wishing he had his memories of his life in his home world, but he was wishing for them now. The people around him had all gone still, taken steps back from his bedside (what'd he done to be admitted to a hospital was beyond him), and they looked between each other, torn between feeling hopeless at his condition and joyous at the simple fact he'd woken up at all.

Danny didn't particularly enjoy having the three figures surrounding him so hesitant to speak or make a move, as if he were going to shatter into a million pieces if they made the slightest misstep. He wasn't damaged in any way; he'd seen damaged and broken and hopeless and desperate. He was far from any of those things. Just because he couldn't remember anything didn't mean that there was something wrong with him. He was perfectly fine! Honest!

(Ok, so he may have lied a little bit. There was something seriously wrong with no memories, but it's not like he'd been tortured or anything.)

Looking at the disheartened faces surrounding him, Danny started dodging their gazes as he studied the hospital room around him and the condition he was in. He first noticed the IV hooked into his arm and the heart-monitor beeping occasionally to assure everyone he was still perfectly alive (unlike in some worlds; how did crap like that even happen?). To the boy's dismay, he was dressed up in a hospital gown, and light blankets laid across his legs. The floor the bed sat on was white-spotted tile. The walls were a pale, calming blue. The florescent lights blared harshly down on the figures in the room, and there were a few chairs strewn about the room. In the back, standing close to the door, was a blonde-haired woman, watching everything with a deep frown but a calm gaze.

The teen liked her immediately. She wasn't freaking out or completely bummed like the three others around him. The woman was calm, collected, hiding her shock and concern well.

With his eyes, Danny silently asked her for help with the silent figures surrounding him. There was nod from the blonde, almost unperceivable to the eyes, and then the woman stepped forward, smiling gently. She came up on Jazz-look-alike's side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder but staring directly into Danny's blue eyes. With a hushed and motherly tone, the woman said, "Hi Danny. My name's JJ; I'm an FBI agent. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you some questions about what happened when you were kidnapped."

The teen eagerly nodded, ready to break the tense atmosphere when-

Wait, _WHAT?!_ Back this gravy-train up a bit! _What did she say?!_

"FBI agent?! Kidnapped?!" Danny yelled, his mouth dropping open as he suddenly jerked forward in his bed. Almost immediately, his supposed parents (he still wasn't entirely sure, though they were acting very parental) tried to push him back down, telling him to calm himself. Danny, without the least bit of hesitation, shooed them away, stating again and again that he was fine, before they finally relented. Turning back to the surprised FBI agent, Danny said, "I was kidnapped?! When?!"

As if surrendering to him, the woman- JJ, she had called herself –held up her hands to appease the boy and potentially calm him. Her smile, though entirely fake and only for looks, came back to her face, but it did nothing to assure Danny. Carefully choosing her words, the woman slowly explained, "You were jumped on your way home from school and thrown into a van. That was two days ago. The FBI was called in to help your case, and we found you holed up in an apartment not far from here. According to the men that were watching you, you were asleep the entire time. Do you remember anything about that, Danny? Anything at all?"

The teen didn't answer right away. He looked away from the blonde-haired woman, instead gazing at the sheets draped over his legs. Danny flipped through his memories quickly, trying to dig up anything that remotely seemed like the event JJ was speaking of. However, there was nothing that could be recalled. All he had were other people's lives stuck in his brain, most of which were alternate versions of him- cooler, stronger, more badass versions of him.

It wasn't fair. Something exciting finally happens to stupid, little Danny Fenton, and it's that exact moment the boy's brain decides it's a good idea to travel.

(The teen chose to ignore that _being_ _kidnapped_ should not be considered _exciting_ on anyone's list, especially his, after everything he'd seen happen in other worlds to kidnapped victims. People were brutalized, tortured, and broken into a thousand, unfixable pieces. Danny shouldn't desire such things happening to him to spice up his life. … He was a little more messed up than he originally thought. Who woulda thought?)

"I…don't remember anything. All I know is that my name is Danny Fenton." Danny stated, feeling sure about his simple statement. It filled him with relief, as he hadn't known for sure what his last name might've been only a few minutes ago. The teen believed with everything he had that other things would come back to him in time. How long it would take, Danny didn't know, but he was prepared to wait it out for however long it'd be.

He'd already watched a couple different lifetimes, some of which had almost been as dull as his probably was. Waiting for days or weeks or months would hardly faze him.

JJ frowned at the boy's answer, but she didn't press the issue. Danny made it a point to tell her that he was sure the details of his life would come back to him soon, though he couldn't say for sure how long it'd be or what would come first. JJ raised an eyebrow, and asked how he would know such a thing. The beginnings of a smile began to creep up on the corners of the boy's lips as he turned to look at his parents, saying, "Sorry for the heart attack I'm sure I gave you, Mom, Dad. I can assure you it wasn't my fault." Turning his head to the hopeful girl on his other side, Danny teasingly called, "Sorry Spazzy-kins."

Relieved smiles overcame the family's expressions, and they all but ignored JJ and her shocked expression as they gave Danny jubilant hugs. Maddie began gushing about how much she missed her baby boy, Jack underlined his teases with his previous anxieties and new reliefs, and Jazz just bounced happily at the boy's side, occasionally giving her two-cents on the matter and swearing she'd destroy Danny if he scared her in such a way again. JJ took no part in the reunion, and after regaining her bearings, the blonde woman excused herself from the room with trace hints of a content smile on her face. However, before she exited, she made sure Danny knew that she or another agent would be by eventually to see if he remembered anything about his capture, which would help them figure out the motive for kidnapping him. Danny merely nodded, smiled, and became engrossed with his family again, happy to be home and safe again.

Danny would like to say that he and his family chatted on for hours, but that would be a lie. The first half-hour came and went with small-talk and a doctor's visit, sure, but the time that passed afterwards was awkward. With Danny's memory as spotty and fickle as it was, the three visitors didn't have much to talk about with him that would make sense. Thus, their conversations were inconsistent, at best. They talked and quieted and sat in awkward silence and then chatted some more. It was probably the longest few hours Danny had ever had the misfortune to be a part of, which was saying a lot, looking at his track record.

However, as the hours began to trickle by, Danny became a little more disheartened at his return. His memories came back to him, like expected, but they only filled him with dread and uncertainty.

Whenever he got back to school, Danny was going to have to make up a whole bunch of tests and even some standardized testing, not to mention all the other work he'd missed over the last few days. That wouldn't help his already slipping grades, and that ten-page research report that was worth twenty-percent of his grade? Yeah, that was supposed to be started the day he got kidnapped. Dash wasn't doing well with his grades either, Danny noted, which meant he was due for a wailing when he got back to school. Sam and Tucker were still ticked at each other for some reason that Danny still couldn't quite remember, and he didn't know how to fix the problem (whatever it was). And what about Mr. Grey's cat he was supposed to be feeding while the man and Valerie were away?! Who had been taking care of her while Danny had been MIA?

It was just one problem after another and smaller, pettier ones than the ones Danny already remembered were still popping up: he still needed to clean his room. His letters to Nana and his pen-pal in California, a girl named Ember, were long past due by now. His desk drawer needed to be emptied. Did he shut his window when he left his house two days ago? His scooter was still at Tucker's, and Sam was supposed to tutor him yesterday. The A-Listers knew his main route home now, so he'd have to map out a new one. Unfinished homework. His turn to make dinner. Babysitting the kid across the street, and the other usual things that went on in Danny's life on a daily to weekly basis. It was all so simple, but it filled the teen with immeasurable stress and frustration. As far as Danny could see, there wasn't any reason for it either.

Fortunately for him, the teen-boy hid it well. Soon enough, Jack and Jazz were going home for the night, promising to be back the next day, while Maddie stayed behind with him. The woman and the boy talked for a little while longer, before Maddie drifted off to sleep. Danny left his bed for the briefest of times to tuck a spare blanket around his mother's shoulders, getting right back in his spot quickly after. The distant sounds of padding feet and the steady thrum of the heart-monitor were the only distractions in the room, which wasn't much to focus on.

Looking absently around the room again, Danny frowned and half-wished to go to sleep. Maybe he'd find himself back in that endless expanse of black again, a door leading to God-knew-where sitting silently in the distance. It seemed like a much preferable option to what was in store for him in the near future, but he resisted the urge. Putting it off wasn't going to help him get any of it over with.

Time ticked by slowly, and Danny found himself watching the green numbers on the clock on his nightstand slowly tick by. They hardly seemed to change, and Danny was sure something was wrong with the clock after about five minutes. It was taking much more than sixty seconds for the numbers to change. It only made the teen more miserable, and he had no idea why that was. Shouldn't he be joyous over the fact everything he had to do was farther away than originally thought?

Despite watching the numbers intently, Danny wasn't sure how much time had passed when there was the tiniest of knocks at his door. He perked to attention immediately, glancing at his mother before the door. The noise didn't bother the woman, and Danny turned his head in time to see the door slowly crack open before an African-American man peeked his head in. His eyes quickly found Danny's wide ones, and he asked, "Danny Fenton?"

" _Yeah…_ " Danny drawled softly, glancing at his mother meaningfully. The unfamiliar man followed the boy's gaze, before he nodded in understanding. The dark-skinned man slipped through the door, closing it softly behind him. A bundle of clothes was stashed in his hands, and Danny eyed them as the taller male padded closer, asking quietly, "Who are you exactly?"

"I'm Special Agent Derek Morgan from the BAU." The man stated as he drew closer, handing the teen the bundle of clothes as he stopped beside the bedside. Danny nodded gratefully at the older man, eager to rid himself of the hospital gown, but then he looked up at Derek with a questioning gaze. The man smiled small before stating, "FBI."

"Ah." Danny muttered, looking at the clock out of the corner of his eye. It was only eight forty-five, which was early. However, Danny almost expected this guy to come earlier. But then again, he didn't know what a fed's schedule was like. Danny pushed those questions to the back of his mind as he asked, "I guess you want to ask me some questions?"

"Only if you're up to it." Derek replied smoothly, raising a questioning eyebrow.

Danny resisted the urge to snort. Why would he not feel fine? Then he remembered that, yeah, he'd been held hostage for two days. The feds probably wouldn't want to take any chances with his mental health, despite his claims of not remembering a single bit of it because he simply decided to take an extended nap.

Hm. Danny's few memories of the men that had hauled his ass into the back of their van felt like a few centuries ago. In a sense, it had been that long ago, but the long period of time had only affected Danny.

A few minutes later found Danny and Derek standing just outside of the hospital room door, both sitting on a bench as Danny basked in the simple t-shirt and sweatpants he'd been given. They'd left the room at the boy's request, as he would feel very guilty if his mother woke up because of his and Derek's chatting. Danny had even left a small note on his pillow explaining that he and the FBI agent were sitting just outside the door.

Derek hardly minded the boy's gestures, instead feeling the slightest bit proud that the teen would do such things on his own for his mother.

As soon as they were on the bench, Derek casually asked Danny if the boy really was up for the questions he was going to ask. The teen only rolled his eyes in exasperation, stated that he was perfectly fine, and then asked Derek if _he_ was ready for any incomplete answers Danny was bound to give him. The agent raised an eyebrow at the boy's lack of confidence in a memory that happened just days before, but assured the teen that anything Danny would tell him would be more than enough. Danny shrugged, as if to say 'suit yourself,' and said, "Ask away."

"Ok. I'm going to start with something simple. What were you doing just before the men nabbed you?" Derek asked, relaxing against the bench as he waited patiently for Danny's answer.

He took much longer than the agent probably expected, Danny mused, digging through his foggy memories. He discarded everything he saw and learned in other dimensions- and oh God, what did he remember from his classes in school? Did he remember anything at all about them? It'd been _so long_ since he'd last studied, since he last thought about his schooling. Homework looked a thousand times harder now, as did the testing in his near future –and focused on the events right before he went off exploring in other worlds. It was much harder than Danny thought it'd be. The other worlds were trying to catch his attention, and though they were much preferred to the memories of two days ago (or a few centuries ago, but it wasn't that much of difference, was it?), Danny pushed past them anyway.

A few minutes later, the teen finally replied, "Well, I was walking home from school like I do every day. My friend texted me that I needed to pick up my scooter from his house before that huge storm that was predicted blew through town. I was in the middle of texting him back when I passed this van on the side of the street. The doors opened, two guys grabbed me, they dragged me inside, and then one of them hit me over the head with a pipe- I think it was a pipe, at least. It got all fizzy after that, and then the next thing I know, hello hospital."

The last half of the sentence was false, actually. The next thing Danny knew, he was standing in an endless sea of black, nothing but himself in sight. Thus, he'd shrugged and began walking, and an estimated fifteen minutes later, a door had popped into existence. Danny had eagerly entered the entryway, a bright smile on his face. The teen watched the dimension for a few decades before he was kicked out, and then wandered off to find another world to watch. The process was repeated for a few lifetimes before he finally said 'hello hospital.'

Derek didn't need to know any of that, though.

"Are you sure you never woke up during your capture?" Derek asked without missing a beat, still looking wholly unaffected by anything the teen said to him. It was starting to make Danny think that any small, vague detail he may give would be helpful, despite his common sense saying the agent wanted the juicy, gory details Danny simply did not possess.

Danny nodded. Derek asked, "Did you hear the men say anything before you blacked out?"

"I don't think so."

"You're not sure?"

"Most of that day is kind of a blur… Sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about." Derek stated, before explaining that he'd like to take Danny through a cognitive interview. It was supposed to help the teen remember the things that had become a blur, but a few minutes later, Danny was no closer to even recalling what the color of the van was. The agent received nothing for his efforts, and Danny felt his stomach sink when he couldn't recall any of the lessons he learned the day he was nabbed, which meant he was going to have to catch up a lot in the next few days if he wanted a good mark in any of his classes. Even science hadn't managed to stick with him this time.

(Somewhere, in the very back of the teen's brain, Danny knew he should be more curious about the captors' motive that drove them to pick him off the side of the street. But, good God, school was much scarier and much more pressing than an event he'd been asleep the entire time for. Besides, picking him up must've been a mistake. After all, nothing ever happened to stupid, little Danny Fenton. He was hardly the highlight of the show like his many twins were.)

Derek frowned from his spot, wondering how a cognitive interview had so completely failed him. To make matters worse, something seemed to trigger something in Danny's mind, for he was now lost in his own thoughts, frowning in frustration and eyes crestfallen over his thoughts. Derek reached out, laid a hand on Danny's shoulder, and asked, "What's the matter? Do you remember something?"

"No, and I'm not gonna remember anything. It's just-" Danny snapped, before his mouth abruptly shut. The boy let out a long breath, propped his elbows on his knees, and rubbed his face, paying particular attention to the area around his tired eyes. It felt good, and the boy concentrated on it, willing the anxiousness creeping in his stomach to disperse. It didn't, but it did ease a little bit, though not much. Still, it was a big relief for Danny, who hadn't thought even that much would give way to him.

The dark-skinned agent waited patiently for the boy to continue with what he was saying, but watching him, Derek came to the conclusion that Danny was probably done talking. However, the man was curious, and he cautiously prodded, "It's just what?"

"I'm not telling you." Danny stated, shaking his head and giving the other male an 'are you crazy?' look. The teen looked away after a couple of seconds, choosing to study the many nurses and doctors wandering the hospital halls this early night. Despite their pressing jobs, they seemed less nervous than Danny, which was quite irritating for the boy. Without looking up from the mass of people dressed in scrubs and white coats, Danny said, "You'd think I was nuts. Sorry, but I don't need anti-psychotics on top of everything else I'm gonna have to catch up on soon."

Derek propped up an eyebrow at the sheer bluntness and the serious tone Danny used. "Kid, no one is going to put you on meds, and I'm sure you're far from crazy. Come on; tell me what's on your mind."

Danny glanced at the man from the corner of his eye, and saw nothing but sincerity in Derek's eyes. However, it wasn't hard to be sincere when you didn't know what you were going into. Danny knew this well, and it's why he hadn't bothered to tell either of his friends since he tried once many years ago. Both Sam and Tucker had laughed and asked him if what he'd been saying was some sort of joke, despite the boy's 'condition' that lined up with what he was saying. Danny had merely laughed back, telling him that he was seeing if he could pull a fast one on the two of them. Then he'd gone home and cried.

The boy hadn't brought it up aloud since. Danny didn't want to now.

"What's the matter?" Derek asked again, prodding the boy's shoulder. When it looked like Danny might simply rise from his seat and leave, Derek placed a firm but gentle hand on the teen's shoulder to stop him.

To Danny, it was obvious the man wasn't going to let him be unless he started having a nervous breakdown or something. However, while faking a nervous breakdown was preferable to admitting the truth, it wasn't going to make him look any more sane. It'd probably get him stuck in therapy, and then everyone would believe he'd been faking the whole 'I-don't-know-anything-that-happened' act he had going on- which wasn't an act at all, when it came down to it. Either way, the teen wasn't going to escape with his image intact; that was for sure.

Well, Danny thought, he could always just half-lie, blame his memory problems and say that he was worried about his schoolwork he'd have to make up. Somehow, though, Danny knew the man would catch on, and Derek wouldn't be satisfied. The man would dig further, and the boy would be right back where he started.

The blue-eyed teen sighed. Looking over at the man, Danny asked, "You can't look at me like I'm nuts, and whatever I say doesn't leave us, ok?"

"As long as none of it pertains to the case, I can do that."

"Believe me; none of it pertains to the case." Danny stated, rolling his eyes. If he wanted to talk about the case, he would've talked about the case earlier.

(Again, he realized how easily he was pushing the thought of the kidnapping to the side when he should've been hung up over it. After all, who'd want stupid, little Danny Fenton for anything?)

(You know, why _did_ they want stupid, little Danny? No one ever wanted him for anything, really. They all wanted his cooler, stronger twins with the cool powers and sass. Shouldn't he be excited that he was being singled out for once?)

( _Sigh_ , _sigh_ , Danny's priorities were all jumbled up and strewn in an ungodly mess. He'd need to work on it when he had the time- if he'd ever have time to himself again after this big, messy event. Wow, Danny felt older than fourteen, but he blamed it on his excessive traveling and not his excessive worrying.)

"Ok, so…" Danny drawled slowly, glancing at Derek once before gazing down the hallway again, daring something to catch the man's attention, so Danny could avoid the conversation. Nothing happened, however, and Danny carefully chose his words as he spoke them. "…when I sleep, I sometimes travel to other worlds for long periods of time."

"Worlds?" Derek asked. His tone was laced with confusion, and Danny was willing to bet his facial expression was scrunched up as he tried to decipher Danny's blunt words. However, the teen wouldn't look at the man to be sure, for fear of that 'I'm-trying-to-hide-my-worry-for-your-sanity-behind-this-fake-expression-of-understanding' look. It'd be worse than the 'come-on-Danny-stop-playing-around' look Sam and Tucker had given him all those years and was permanently branded into his mind.

(How come he could remember a look so clearly from so long ago when he couldn't even remember what'd he learned just two days ago?)

"Dimensions, if you wanna be specific." Danny stated, watching the busy nurses enter and exit rooms. Doctors and visitors- whom Danny was sure would be gone soon –walked briskly down the hallways, too distracted with their activities to notice the black-haired boy and dark-skinned man sitting stiffly on the bench, the boy watching them all curiously.

Danny continued, "Sometimes, when I go to sleep, I wake up in this black void. Sometimes, there's a door; sometimes, they're not, and I have to look for them. Either way, I end up walking through them eventually, and I'm taken to all these different worlds. They've got all sorts of impossible things in them. Like, one time, I watched these two brothers from the moment the younger one was born, and they grew up to be monster hunters. It was one of the coolest and most depressing places I've ever been to…

"Anyway, I started traveling when I was really young. The first time happened in the second grade, if I remember correctly, which I may not. It was the first time these kids at my school- the A-Listers –bullied my friends and I. It really upset me, and I should've told my parents, but I didn't… Not the point. That night, I fell asleep, feeling really anxious about the next day, but I woke up in the void, and opened a door for the first time. I watched the people there for about seven to eight months, and then I woke up. It was morning, and all I'd done was sleep through the night. I didn't realize how much I missed my parents until I saw them…" Danny mused, frowning. He shrugged. "I chalked it up to being a dream, and there wasn't an incident for another few weeks.

"My visits didn't get much longer for a few years, but then I turned twelve. It was the day before school was supposed to start, and I was feeling nervous about going to middle school. I feel asleep that night, woke up in the void, and I stayed in there for a good nine to ten years… I slept through the night and half of the next day, meaning I missed the first day of school. Way to start a track-record at a new school, huh?" Danny chuckled, but it was a hollow sound. "My parents flipped out. They hadn't been able to get me to even stir while I slept, and they took me to the hospital, but the doctors didn't know what was going on either. When I woke up, I tried to tell them what had happened, but the doctor's thought I was talking about a dream… I didn't correct them.

"Over the years, my stays have been progressively been getting longer, though there's no telling what'll set me off. I just wake up in the void, and I never question it. I don't get that. I _never_ question how I show up there unless I'm awake. Like, it feels like the real world when I'm there, and this is the dream, but when I'm awake, it's the opposite. But what am I saying? The other dimensions _are_ real! Uh, I'm just talking in circles." Danny ranted, rubbing his temples in aggravation. He paused in his speech, almost expecting the agent to speak up already, but the man was eerily silent.

(If Danny was thinking completely straight, he probably would've come to the conclusion that Derek was attempting to figure out which mental illness he had. After all, Danny was talking about the dimensions like they were real. And they were! It's just…no one ever believed him. It didn't fit in with their reality, however. But then, reality was a fickle thing, wasn't it? Danny was just the only one who ever seemed to realize it.)

After inhaling deeply, Danny released a long breath to calm himself. His heart was hammering against his chest, nervous from speaking about his ability. Derek's quietness was unsettling as well, but Danny pushed that thought to the side, trying to pretend he was the only one listening to his voice ramble on. "I'm not gonna lie and say I wish the traveling would stop. I don't want it to, but it's…got problems. Like, sometimes I'm asleep for days, which isn't good. I always wake up in hospitals when that happens, and the search for the source of the problem begins again. Let me tell ya; it's not fun.

"And, well… I've started forgetting things. It always starts when I'm traveling. About the time I hit the one-year mark, things start becoming fuzzy. Like, I can't remember my classes from the day before I left, or all of the streets I use to walk home. Then, from there, it just gets worse. Can't remember my classmates, or my high-school, or anything I've learned from school, or my friends, my sister, my parents… They all just fade away, and I can't stop it. And it's terrible because I never get worried about the forgetting either. I just let it happen, like it's not a big deal to know what makes me…well, _me_. And even when I wake up, I still can't remember anything. It takes days to remember what I've learned in school this year, and even after weeks pass, I still never get any memories before second grade anymore." Danny stated, blowing a strand of black hair from his blue eyes. "I think the only reason I ever wake up anymore is because I forget that this one doorway leads me home.

"I know I should stop traveling because of my memory issues. I know this, but I just…I can't stop. There are other different versions of me, and they've got all sorts of cool powers that I wished I had. Other people really seem to like them- me. And I guess that's why I keep going back… Because, somewhere else, I'm something different, but here, I'm just stupid, little Danny Fenton."

Again, the teen fell silent. His blue eyes continued to follow the figures wandering back and forth in front of him. With his story done, the teen's shoulders relaxed, and his heart, though still thumping heavily against his rib-cage, calmed, feeling less like it was going to explode at any moment. Focused on the other figures rushing and down the halls, Danny forgot all about Derek for a time.

However, his trance was broken when Derek said, "I believe you."

For a moment, Danny's hope soared. His head turned to look at the older, taller man and was faced with an almost expressionless face. If he hadn't known better, the teen would've taken it as the man taking the notion seriously. But no, there was something about his eyes that said 'I believe…that you believe yourself.' Danny deflated immediately, sighed, and shook his head. Getting up, the boy got the slightest bit of amusement out of the surprise that took over Derek's face. Danny smiled sadly and said, "No, you don't."

Then the boy turned, entered his room again, and slipped back under his covers. Pulling the sheets up to his chin, Danny closed his eyes and allowed sleep to pull him away.

* * *

 _Black._

 _That's all Danny saw as he scanned the horizon, even though there was none to be found. In every direction, all he saw was an endless sea of black that never wavered. The only thing splashed with color was him, but he was barely a pinprick in this expanse._

 _Looking in front of him, there were no doors. To his right, there were no doors. To his left, there were no doors. Behind him, there was a door._

 _Danny recognized it because it wasn't a door at all, just an entryway blanked white. The light pulsated, urging him to enter. It was calling him back home, Danny now realized. And not just calling; it was begging, pleading, crying. The door- his home world, really –wanted him to come back. It didn't want him to wander off again for another few centuries. What was wrong with his normal life, it asked, hadn't he had enough with the other dimensions yet?_

 _The teen watched it for a time, studying the way the light pulsed and beckoned. It was heartbreaking, watching the light call so desperately to him. For a moment, Danny almost stepped forward, which would've no doubt ended his stay, but he resisted. The teen turned, walking in the opposite direction completely. Danny never turned back, always strutting forward, looking for any door that may suddenly appear on the horizon._

 _After all, he'd only be gone for a little while. It wouldn't hurt him, would it? Besides, there was nothing_ too _pressing going on in his joke of a home world anyway…_

 _(Danny knew it was a lie, but he'd forget it soon enough.)_

 _Behind the boy, the light from the door began to dim as Danny wandered away from its welcoming warmth. It called again and again, becoming more desperate the farther Danny got. The light became weaker, fading away as the teen's silhouette became smaller, darker, indiscernible from the vast expanse about them. Soon enough, the weak cries began to fade, and the light continued to dim. Then the cries died out, no longer calling. Still, the light clung to its last bit of life. It flickered weakly in the darkness, trying its hardest to receive the boy's attention again._

 _However, Danny just continued to walk, and the light snuffed out._

* * *

 **I thought this chapter would be short. I was very, very wrong. *facepalm***

 **Anyways, so a different take on dimensional travel is this update's chapter, obviously. This specific talent is number two on my "If I could have one superpower, this is what it'd be" list, with this specific version of it in mind. It is only topped by flying because I really, really wish I could fly. Like, I literally dream about flying, and I wonder if the feeling is the same. (But, then again, this is coming from the girl who never wakes up when she's falling in her dreams. I ALWAYS HIT THE FUCKING GROUND, BUT IF MY FOOT GETS CAUGHT IN A HOLE IN MY DREAMS, I WAKE UP WITH A MINI-HEART ATTACK. LIKE, WHAT IS THIS SORCERY?)(I'm tired; I'm sorry.)**

 **Thanks to these people for favoriting/following: _Devinely, Horntastic, bluecandy2007, beazlerat, Reklaw14._**

 **G** **uest Reviews:**

 **Shadowflaymenyte: I cannot promise that. Haven't seen the movie, haven't read the comics. And every-time I try to watch/read them, I end up doing, "I'm gonna- Oh, look! SUPERNATURAL'S ON!" ...so yeah.**


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